UnConventional Survival Horror 2
by Katsumi the miko
Summary: Sequel to 'Un-conventional Survival Horror. The adventures of Stevie, Kate, and Mattie take a dark turn. Take place during the 6-month gap of RE6. Rated 'T' for language, gore, and violence. Summary and Title may change.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: By popular demand, UnConventional Survival Horror now has a sequel! **Applause** This story is a collaboration between JediSpartan217 and me. We tossed around a bunch of ideas, and the plot for this story appeared. I never really dreamed that UCSH would ever have a sequel; I meant it to be a one-time story and leave it, but then it got really popular and the reviewers asked for more! Since I've kept everybody waiting, this chapter is gonna be a teaser for what to expect! Hehe!**

**A little note: This story is going to be much MUCH darker than UCSH. Instead of light humor, I'm gonna branch out into a new genre: Psychological Horror!**

**So there you have it! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil, or its characters. Non-Canon characters own themselves.**

"This is HQ. Have you found the facility yet?"

"Not yet. This forest is thicker than it appears. We're almost there."

"Stay on alert. We don't know what's out there. Be careful alright?"

"Roger." The BSAA agent clicked his earpiece off and turned to his partner. "Looks like the BSAA is keeping us on our toes this time," he said.

His partner shrugged. "Babysitters. What can you do?" she replied sarcastically, "Were they telling us to be careful again?"

The agent gave a small laugh. "I heard all of that a long time ago. No need to say it twice," he said, "Although I think this is the first time I've had a partner who is still a cadet."

"Hey!" the younger agent objected, "Don't base expectations on my rank and appearance; I may be smaller than you, but I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve."

"The older agent laughed again. "Don't forget: This is your first mission. I'm not expecting us to do anything too complicated this evening," he said, "Once this investigation is over, we can be back at HQ in time for breakfast."

"Yeah, yeah," the cadet replied, sticking her lip out in a pout, "Excuse me for getting excited. What are we looking for again?"

"There's an abandoned warehouse in this area," the male agent explained, "People in nearby towns have been reporting odd activity, and that's where we come in."

The female cadet nodded. "Warehouse. Got it," She said, "It's nearly pitch black out here. Perfect time to test these new goggles." She glanced forward, adjusting her specialized goggles to night-vision mode so she could see through the shadows of the forest. An outline of a building appeared bright green in the display; they were getting close to their target. "There it is," she said, "I can see the doors."

The two agents rushed forward and checked the main sliding door. Despite being shut tightly, several scratches and claw marks had been carved into the metal, indicating that the facility had recently been attacked. "Looks like someone got here before we did," the male agent noted, "Hope we can still get in."

"Well," the cadet sighed, "It's not like we haven't practiced breaking and entering before." The female agent retrieved the proper tools from her belt and began her work on the metal door. After several minutes, the lock clicked open. "Got it!" she confirmed as she got to her feet, "Help me open this. It looks heavy." The older agent grabbed one of the chains that hung besides the warehouse door. On cue, he and his partner each tugged on the chains, raising the door. Beyond the threshold lay a long, darkened, hallway that led deeper into the facility. Flashlight beams from the agents' torches cut through the shadows as the BSAA operatives entered. The duo didn't speak, only allowing the beams of light to swim through the darkness. One of the lights stopped on a metal crate bearing a familiar red and white octagon.

"Umbrella?" the older agent asked, taking a closer look at the symbol, "I thought they disappeared ages ago. It looks like this crate was moved recently. What are they doing here?"

The cadet's gaze fell upon the symbol as she moved closer to investigate. "Who knows?" she said, "But it probably isn't for storage."

A metallic crash sounded from farther down the hall, capturing the agents' attention. "What was that?" she asked, night-vision goggles fixed on the passageway. The older agent listened closely, eyes widening when he identified the sound of claws on tile growing louder.

"We've got company," he warned, drawing his handgun and pointing it toward the end of the corridor, his cadet doing the same. Seconds later, a swarm of Hunter BOWs charged around the corner and stampeded towards the two agents. The operatives' handguns spat flames as round after round was fired into the monsters' flesh, but the beast continued their charge and surround the agents. The swarm was endless. For each Hunter killed, five more would appear from the far end of the hall.

"Damn! These guys don't quit!" the older agent cursed as he slammed a clip into his handgun, watching for another wave of Hunters. Just because the majority had been taken down didn't mean there weren't more.

"Ya think someone told them a cadet was coming?" the female agent joked before a shriek brought her attention to her partner's blind spot. "Watch out!"

The older agent turned in time to witness an abnormally large Hunter bearing down upon him. There was no time to dodge. The monster's claws swept downward, prompting a yell of pain as the talons tore through body armor and raked across skin, leaving a long, bleeding gash.

"Parker!" the cadet cried, shooting the final Hunter in the face as it prepared a killing blow. The monster fell as the younger agent rushed to her partner's side. "You're hurt bad! Do you have any first aid spray?"

"Me? I thought you were carrying it!" Parker replied. The cadet smacked her palm to her face for the oversight. The older agent quickly looked over his wound; the bleeding had gotten faster despite the pressure he put on it. "It doesn't look good," he breathed, "I might not make it out this time."

The cadet took view of the empty, corpse-filled corridor. A low rumble from the back of the hall indicated that more monsters were on their way. There was no way both of them would be able to survive the next wave; the agents' bullet supply was running thin and Parker was losing blood faster than a fire sprinkler. The cadet turned her eyes to the exit and knew what she had to do. "C'mon," she grunted as she pulled one of Parker's arms over her shoulder, "We have to get you out of here while there's still time."

Parker winced at the unpredicted movements in his torso, causing his wounds to bleed even more and stain his mission fatigues. "What about you?" he asked, limping in the direction the younger agent steered him.

"I'll be fine!" the rookie assured as the distant rumbling grew louder. The monsters would be on them in a matter of seconds. She set Parker to lean against the nearest wall before rushing back towards the oncoming herd. "Just go!" she shouted, "I'll buy you some time to get out!"

The older agent turned away from the cadet and faced the door. He wanted to scold the rookie, but in his heart, he trusted that she knew what she was doing and couldn't be swayed. The determined look in her eyes told him that much. In spite of the pain, Parker grasped his side as he stumbled towards the exit and the forest beyond.

Once he had made it past the outer door and out of the facility, the cadet looked back one last time. With the knowledge that her partner would be safe, she mashed the 'Emergency Lockdown' button near her elbow. The switch would shut the main doors, sealing the Hunters— and herself— into the facility. Releasing the Hunters into the wild was a recipe for instant chaos.

Parker glanced behind him as the mechanical engine started. The giant door that the cadet had unlocked earlier began to steadily close between the two agents. "No!" the Italian bellowed as he turned around and attempted to limp back to his partner.

"Go! Get your butt out of here!" the female cadet barked as the Hunters rounded the corner, "Hurry!" Just as the younger agent turned to face the horde of monsters charging towards her, the main door hit the ground and fixed the door into place, locking the rookie and Hunters inside.

Parker stood in shock, feeling the cold air brushing none too gently against the scratches. He had his share of partners killed in action, but this was the second time a cadet wanted to sacrifice themselves, and this was the first cadet that he had allowed to follow through with that plan. It was also incredibly selfish.

"Damn!" he cursed under his breath, banging a fist against the metal door in frustration, "There goes another partner."

**AN: I shouldn't have to remind you guys, leave a review! Reviews speed up my productivity!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Here's chapter 2! To make up for the long wait, this chapter is extra long (in my opinion; 17 pages is Word). I'd like to give an extra-special shout-out to haalyle and Experimental Agent 1123. Once again, they were the very first reviewers to this story, just like old times. I love you guys so much! And I love you too, Christie Redfield. ****I look forward to everybody's reviews and reactions!  
**

**As of right now, I am sick. Nasty cold. :P And I still have a few really important tests to do in the coming week. If I miss those, I'm screwed. So, fingers crossed that I can get better soon. Also, JediSpartan217 and I have been talking over the plot points for this story. The main plotline won't change; we're just considering writing in a few little hints of 'something you'll have to figure out for yourselves'. I'm not giving it away that easy.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil, its characters, or recognizable references made in this chapter. The idea for 'Rookie Pinball' is mine, and non-canon characters own themselves! Oh, and Jedispartan217 helped me come up with the plot for this sequel; gotta give her credit too. Done!**

* * *

"Okay, you ready?"

"No."

"Too bad. One, two-"

"OW! Mother of God that hurts! Let me up! Let me up!"

Stevie sighed and reluctantly allowed her friend to sit upright. "C'mon Kate, we have to work on your flexibility," she reminded as her partner sat up, "I mean, what if a mission requires you to touch your toes?"

Now it was Kate's turn to sigh in annoyance. "You know, to be perfectly honest," she replied, looking up from the black, padded mats of the gymnasium where they trained, "Just how likely is that going to happen?"

"That's the point; you never know," a third female voice added as its owner entered the room. The two girls spun around to identify their visitor.

The red dress gave it away. "Ada!" they greeted with brightened voices as their mentor approached. After returning to their regular lives and finishing school, Stevie and Kate had decided that their loyalties rested with The Organization. One call from a pay phone later, a limousine arrived to pick them up and whisked them away to an undisclosed location in the middle of who-knows-where. Ada immediately took the duo under her wing for training in preparation for field missions. Even as adults, the girls still reacted to her presence like children greeting a favorite babysitter.

However, Mattie had decided to sign on with the BSAA after spending an extended amount of time in the recovery wards, no thanks to the P30 device that Wesker had attached to her chest. Once released from the sixteen-week boot camp, Mattie began her specialized training under Chris and Jill. The three girls remained in contact with each other, but correspondence was limited to ambiguous emails from public computers and vague letters with a different return address every time. On rare occasions, the girls would arrange to meet in public places when they were allowed a day off. Those days were highly anticipated, and the girls' conversations consisted of current news, funny stories, and griping about training. Speaking of training….

"How goes the practice?" Ada asked, looking at her charges with a teasing glint in her eyes "Any improvement?"

Stevie exhaled through her nose as her partner stood up. "We've been here for a little over two years and Kate still can't touch her toes," the dark-haired girl explained. Kate nodded shyly in agreement.

Ada absorbed the response before delivering her own message. "That's not important. The Organization higher-ups have decided to give you your first assignment," the spy stated. Stevie and Kate's faces brightened in excitement, imagining the possibilities held in store for them. "Don't get too excited; it's not a heist. And as your mentor, I have final say on whether you're ready to take on assignments." The girls' faces fell in dismay. Ada paused, deliberately drawing out the good news. "However…. I'm confident that you can handle this mission on your own." The duos' faces brightened up again, hearts swelling at the praise. "The BSAA has been very active as of late with all the bioterrorism that has occurred lately. We're sending you in to act as moles for The Organization."

Stevie gave a short cheer whilst Kate nodded in approval. "Sounds easy enough," the quiet girl commented with a smile.

"This'll be a piece of cake!" Stevie added, "And hey! We can go see Mattie while we're there!"

The spy's eyes flashed at the younger novice. "Yes. But it is of critical importance that your cover stays intact," she warned, raising her voice at her apprentices, "No one, I repeat, no one, is to know about your mission."

The girls' expressions became serious. "We understand," Kate replied for both of them, "When do we leave?"

Ada turned to her other trainee. "Your tools and gear are waiting in the helicopter. You will receive further instructions when the helicopter lands," the spy explained. Then her tone became more severe. "The Organization is taking a gamble, sending you two on a mission like this; don't disappoint them." The two students traded signals with their eyes, now knowing where they stood, and gave their mentor one last good-bye before heading into the changing rooms.

The helicopter delivered the girls to an abandoned parking lot, occupied only by an empty gray sedan. The pilot dropped them off, gave them a set of keys, and bid them farewell before taking off again. Inside the car, they found a stuffed manila envelope containing a GPS unit, a set of fake ID badges, a cell phone, and a small Bluetooth earpiece. Kate turned on the cell phone, synced it with the earpiece, and placed the headset in her ear as Stevie took the driver's seat and started the car. As the vehicle pulled out of the parking lot, the cell phone began to ring. Kate pressed a button on the headset. "Hello?" she answered tentatively, adjusting the setting to speakerphone so Stevie could hear as well.

"It seems you've found the car already, that pilot was quick," a familiar voice replied.

"Hello Ada," both girls greeted, recognizing the voice of their mentor.

"So, I take it you're our backseat driver on this mission?" Stevie quipped.

"I suppose that's one way to put it," the spy replied, "As your mentor, I'm supposed to guide you through the first steps and monitor this mission. Have you checked the GPS yet?"

Kate turned the GPS on and attached it to the dashboard. "It's ready," she said, examining the map that appeared on the screen, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"It's been programmed to take you to the BSAA's North American Headquarters," Ada explained, " You two will be posing as new cadets. The badges will get you past the front gate. I'll give you further instructions once you're inside. Have a nice drive."

The girls drove onto the highway, following the GPS for three hours before reaching the BSAA's security checkpoint. "Here we are," Stevie thought as she pulled up to the gate, "Moment of truth." Making sure her 'Game face' was ready, she rolled down the window of the car. "Good morning sir!" she greeted as she held out the badges to the guard, a chubby man who looked to be in his thirties. "How are you this fine morning?"

The guard took the badges and smiled at the girls in a friendly manner. "Doin' well!" he replied. He gestured over at the main building with his head. "Busy day in there, though."

"How come?" Kate asked from the passenger seat.

The guard shook his head. "Wish I could say what was going on, but everything is hush-hush until further notice," he said, running the ID cards through his computer. Stevie and Kate bit their tongues in worry as the guard watched the computer run through the database, hoping that the operative that was in charge of preparation had done his part and installed their names in the BSAA's system. "I don't believe I've seen you girls here before," the guard spoke in an attempt to make conversation, "You girls new here?"

Stevie nodded brightly. "Yep! First day as new cadets, fresh out of basic training!" she replied smoothly.

"Right," the guard responded as he handed the ID cards back to the girls, "You're all checked out. I'll open the gate for you."

Stevie took the counterfeit IDs back as the gate began to rise. "Thank you!" she said before driving away, "Have a nice day!" The guard nodded in reply as the car drove off.

Once inside the gates, Kate reconnected the communication line on the headset. "We're in," she said, "What do we do now?"

"You're doing fine," Ada's voice reassured, "Go inside. Check in at the front desk to claim your locker keys. Your uniforms and weapons are in there."

Kate nodded in understanding. "Got it. Thanks Ada," she replied before cutting off the connection. "Park over there," she instructed Stevie, pointing to an empty area of the parking lot. Her friend nodded and navigated the car into one of the spaces.

From there, the two girls exited the car and walked into the building. The front lobby of the BSAA was bustling with suits and soldiers alike, but the two girls managed to find their way to the front desk undisturbed. They presented their badges and signed in with the secretary, a small blond woman, who gave them the keys to the lockers and informed them that their unit superior would meet with them in the locker room. After receiving directions, Stevie and Kate found the women's locker room and began searching for their lockers.

"Dang!" Stevie remarked, looking at the rows of lockers stacked two high and at least fifteen in a row, "How many people do they have here?"

"Many," Kate replied despite the statement's rhetoric, reading the numbers on a row of lockers before stopping in front of two lockers, "Found our lockers. Yours is on the left."

The girls opened up the lockers. Inside were a few sets of folded gray clothes with a handgun and small combat knife sitting on the top. A gun holster and set of body armor hung in the back of the locker. "Looks like this is our uniform," Kate stated, pulling out the clothes. The gray items consisted of cargo pants, and a matching shirt with black accents starting from the top of the elbow to mid-forearm. The girls changed into their clothes, adjusting the uniforms to fit their taste. They had just started checking their handguns when a set of footsteps wandered into the room.

"Hey, I didn't think I'd run into you two again. So you decided to join up with the BSAA too?" a familiar voice greeted. The girls looked up at their visitor, recognizing the smiling, blue-clad brunette on sight.

"We just decided to spend a little extra time in basic training," Stevie explained as she rolled the sleeves of the uniform to rest above her elbows, "What's been going on, Jill?"

"Yeah, Is Mattie around?" Kate asked in curiosity as she holstered her handgun.

Jill shook her head. "Nope. Last I heard, she was off on a investigation mission in Europe."

Kate raised an eyebrow, sharing a quick glance with Stevie. The old trait of protectiveness the girls had for each other was still strong, despite the fact that they had gone their separate ways after the hotel outbreak.

The silence was broken by a high-pitched alarm from Jill's pager. The female agent tore the device from her waistband, glancing down at the message for a few seconds before shoving the pager away. "We have to go. Now," she said sharply, breaking into a fast walk towards the exit, giving Stevie and Kate no choice but to follow her. They still didn't know the layout of the building, after all.

Jill led the two cadets into what looked like a medical recovery wing, passing rooms holding agents with varying degrees of injury before entering one of the rooms. Stevie and Kate followed her inside, standing out of the way as Jill began talking with the room's sole inhabitant.

"Parker," Jill greeted solemnly, leaning over the husky man's bed, "Are you alright? The nurses said you were hurt pretty bad."

The male agent grunted, holding the bandages wrapped around his chest as he tried to sit up. "It seems these injuries are going to keep me off my feet for a while, but I think I'll survive," he groaned. "Jill. That facility wasn't as abandoned as the BSAA thought. The place was filled with Hunters."

"What happened to your partner?" the female agent questioned.

Parker sighed and looked down at his lap. "We were overwhelmed by BOWs. She . . . she sacrificed herself so I could get out safely. Any way you slice it, at least one of us probably would have died back there," he confessed.

Jill's eyes widened. "But why her?" the female agent asked.

"She knew what she was doing; I couldn't stop her," the injured man said.

Jill cursed under her breath and bit her lip, willing herself not to reveal emotion at the loss of her trainee. She turned to Kate and Stevie, catching a glance at two of her co-workers as they passed the door. "Quint? Keith?" she called, grabbing the attention of the two arguing men, "What are you guys doin' here?"

The two men stopped. "'Ey! Jill!" the taller of the two greeted, "Just 'ere on a temporary transfer until 'Merica takes a break from spearheading anti-bioterror operations. You?"

Jill shrugged her shoulders. "Just doin' my job. Could you guys do me a favor and show my new cadets to the barracks? I need them to get settled in while I take Parker's report."

"Hey, no problem, Jill!" the shorter man replied in a distinct Bostonian accent, while the taller, younger looking man poked his head into the room, searching for the two girls.

He spotted Stevie and Kate against the wall. "You two, come with us," he prompted, gesturing for them to follow.

"C'mon," his partner replied, "We won't bite!"

Parker gave a small laugh as Jill glared at the shorter man. "What did I tell you about scaring the rookies, Quint?" she scolded, sending an annoyed look to both of the two grown men.

"Sorry ma'am, I'll put a tighter leash on him next time," the taller man, now recognizable as 'Keith', replied. He turned back to Stevie and Kate. "C'mon! Time's a-wastin'!"

The two girls reluctantly picked themselves up and followed the two men out of the room. Once out of Jill's earshot, the teasing began again. "Haven't seen you two here before," Keith asked the duo, "Fresh cadets?"

"More like 'fresh meat'," Quint teased as he turned around and began walking backwards, "Welcome to the BSAA, ladies. Ya know what department you wanna go into yet? You'll get more opportunities as agents instead of soldiers. We could always use more women in the 'Tech pit'."

Stevie gave a small laugh at Quint's antics. "Unless you have equipment engineering, I'm not that interested. Kate's more of a code monkey than I am. I'm Stevie, by the way."

Keith's head whirled around. "Get out!" he exclaimed, "You girls are Mattie's friends?" Stevie and Kate nodded. "Aw, man," the tall man griped, "She talks about you guys all the time! Can't shut her up!"

"Yeah!," Quint added, "Too bad 'Goggles' ain't around right now. It'd be a nice surprise when she saw youse here in uniform." The girls smiled sheepishly. The balding man addressed Kate next. "So, whadda you interested in?"

Kate gave the question some thought before replying. "I like intelligence analysis," she said, speaking calmly as usual, "And I'm good with any model of sniper rifle if I need to shoot something."

"Perfect!" Quint exclaimed, turning back around to face forward, "Now, we usually throw a hazing party for new cadets, but with all the bioterrorism activity, looks like yours is gonna be rescheduled to next week."

A bright grin grew on Stevie's face. "Awesome! I love parties!" she cheered.

Keith turned to his partner in disbelief, "Next week?!" he objected, "I was looking forward to 'Rookie Pinball'."

Kate's expression grew uneasy. "Uh, what's 'Rookie Pinball'?" she asked.

Quint glanced back at the soft-spoken girl. "'Rookie Pinball' is a game we all play whenever a new rookie gets stationed here. The rookie gets blindfolded, spun around until they can't find their nose, and then released into the 'tech pit' where they wander around an' bump into things until they fall over. The best part is the gambling," he explained, "Almost as good as playin' 'Pac-Man'!"

Keith noticed the nervous look on Kate's face and added, "He's just bein' a Grade-A jackass. Don't take 'im too seriously," earning an elbow in the ribs from the aforementioned 'jackass' as the two girls giggled.

Several twists and turns through the BSAA led the group into an area lined with numbered doors, reminiscent of a dormitory. Quint and Keith stopped in front of an unmarked door. "Well! Here ya are, girls! Home sweet home," Keith joked, "that is, until you get assigned proper quarters. Hope ya don't mind."

"It won't be a problem," Kate replied, taking a seat on the lower bunk and looking around the new surroundings. Moderate size, closets, and a bunk bed set against a wall. Apart from that, the room was dark. No windows, just one drab floor lamp.

"Yeah, and thanks a lot for showing us!" Stevie added, flopping onto the bottom bunk, "If it weren't for you, we'd be lost!"

Quint and Keith laughed. "Well, we gotta get back to work," Keith stated, clapping a hand on Quint's shoulder, "See ya around!"

The two girls waved 'Good-bye' to the agents as they prepared to leave. Once the men departed, Stevie jumped up and strode to the door, closing it behind them before turning to her friend. "Nice guys," she said, "I'm gonna miss them when we get called back."

Kate nodded in agreement. "I think I'm gonna miss Keith more," the glasses-wearing girl commented.

"Uh-huh. You like him, don't you?" the dark-haired girl teased.

A perplexed look crossed Kate's face like a deer in the headlights. "I do not!" she rebutted, "Wait, which 'like' are you talking about?"

The younger girl shook her head. "Sorry buddy, you're terrible at Poker," Stevie replied, "Hey, uh. Shouldn't we be checking in with Ada about now? It's been a while since we last called her."

A silent "Oh!" crossed Kate's face, and the quiet girl began adjusting the Bluetooth device she had forgotten to remove earlier. "Hello?" she started, minding the communications security system the BSAA undoubtedly had, "Is this thing working right?"

Ada's voice sounded from the earpiece a second later. "The line is secure," the spy informed, "Do you have an update?"

Stevie fell on the bed next to Kate, taking advantage of the opportunity that had been presented. "Well, Ada," she replied lightly, "For starters, I'm going to need a big bar of soap to wash all the bullshit I'm spewing to the BSAA out of my mouth."

Kate rolled her eyes at her friend's antics. "We're inside," the calm girl reported, "and nobody suspects a thing."

"Good," Ada replied curtly, "If your cover is blown, The Organization will not bail you out. You'll be on your own."

"So, no pressure on this assignment?" Kate questioned, snarky sense of sarcasm kicking in. If their mentor didn't respond to a joke, then sarcasm was the next best thing to get a smile out of her.

"Of course not," Ada replied with sarcasm of her own, except her tone was much more serious, "You'll only be serving a life sentence in a high-security federal prison if you get caught."

Kate sighed in disdain. "That's comforting," she commented.

"Anything else I should know about?"

Stevie gave recent events consideration before she replied. "Nah. That's pretty much everything up to now."

"Then I bid you Good-bye," Ada replied before cutting off the connection with her apprentices. The room fell silent for thirty seconds before Stevie made an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Think we're allowed to explore around here? I'm getting bored," the younger girl suggested, pulling her legs up on the bedspread.

Her companion thought about it. "Maybe," Kate replied, "They didn't say anything why not to."

Stevie jumped to her feet again. "C'mon! Let's see if we can find Mattie's dormitory," she suggested, skipping over to the door, "When we get there, I'm going to touch everything in her room!" She opened the portal to find a familiar face in the doorway. "Hi Jill," the dark-haired cadet greeted, "How's Parker doing?"

Jill positioned her hands on her hips and sighed. Kate caught on to the change in the female agent's tone and behavior; something was wrong. "I need to talk to both of you," Jill stated, "May I come in?" Stevie opened the door wider, allowing the older woman to come in. The female agent stood to the side of the bunk bed as Stevie closed the door behind her. "I finished taking Parker's report, and it wasn't pretty," Jill began.

"What about his partner?" Kate asked, drawing her legs upward on the bed as a gnawing feeling entered her stomach. Something was not right about the female agent's behavior.

Jill sighed again. "That's the real kick in the teeth," she replied. Stevie and Kate leaned closer to listen. "I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but his partner on that mission was your friend Mattie." Shock set in. The girls' faces fell silent. "I know what you're going to ask next, so I'll cut to the chase." Jill folded her arms over her bust. "We don't know if she's okay. As of right now, the BSAA has her listed as MIA."

"Isn't anybody looking for her?!" Stevie questioned, since Kate wasn't saying a word. "There's got to be a search team or something!"

"Not yet," Jill replied, "Thing is, she and Parker went out there searching for Chris, who is also MIA. The BSAA is claims the risk factor of sending another search party is too high.''

Stevie began to see red. "And why not?!" she argued, standing up from the bunkbed "She's our friend! Don't tell us the BSAA is leaving her to die!"

Jill paused for several seconds before turning towards the door. "Follow me," she instructed, "You need to see the full picture to understand 'Why'."

Minutes later, the trio arrived in the 'Tech pit'. The 'pit' consisted of a large, high-ceilinged room. Desks of computers were arranged in front of a giant screen that hung from the far wall. Aside from the emergency exits, the main entrance was at the top of a metal staircase that led downwards, giving the 'Tech Pit' its name. The room was designed for several analysts to be working at the same time, but for now, only two men inhabited the space.

Jill strode towards Quint and Keith who were working furiously at their stations. "Quint, Keith," she ordered, getting their attention, "I need you to bring up the non-classified information on the Edonia outbreaks. These cadets need to be filled in on the current situation surrounding Chris' disappearance."

The two men spun their chairs around to face her. "Now?! We just got some new material on that!" Quint objected, "We're up to our necks 'ere! Everyone else went home early!" Jill stood her ground, looking at the men expectantly.

"Eh, I suppose we could show ya," Keith said, shooting a confused look to Jill as he turned back to his computer and began typing, "Why the sudden request?"

"There's been a development in the situation," Jill explained, "We know who's been taken."

"Someone we know?" Keith asked.

"Yes. Mattie," Jill stated. All activity on the computer ceased, and curses could be heard under Quint and Keith's breath. "We have to stay focused."

The men were quiet for several seconds. "Right," Quint stated, turning back to his computer, "One fresh batch o' data comin' up! Can we get some fries with that, Grinder?"

"Got it," the other man said, turning to his monitor as well, "Care to explain what we already know, Jill?"

Jill turned to Kate and Stevie and began her explanation. "After Chris disappeared, there have been small bio-outbreaks all over the globe," she started as a giant image of the world map appeared on the screen behind her, "Then we started getting strange videotapes in the mail. Quint?"

"On it!" the hacker said, typing more commands into the computer, "Bringing it up on da big screen for ya."

The image of the map vanished, only to be replaced with a video player. The only thing that could be seen from the clip was a man's blurred silhouette. Keith hit the 'Play' button and the video began.

"BSAA," the figure started. The girls were quick to note that the voice was heavily deepened and masked by filters, making the voice near impossible to identify. "I have been watching you from the beginning, and you have once again shown that you have failed to prevent even the smallest outbreak," the figure said, "You show me and the rest of the world that the BSAA isn't competent enough to contain bioterrorism." The video ended. Quint pulled up another movie and pressed 'Play'. "I am from the dying flames of Umbrella," the same figure continued, "You may call me by 'Delfredi', and I will soon bring light to this world. I know the truth. Those who have survived Arklay already know it. And the truth can spread just as fast as the outbreaks I've caused. You can try to contain it, hold it back, but everything you know will soon disappear. Show me that the world has something to offer hope to."

The video ended, and Quint prepped another video player on the computer. "Now this," he said, "Is the most recent one we received. And by recent, we mean twelve hours ago."

The video started. "You are trying my patience! I grow tired of your weak command structures and protocols. I have started four outbreaks and once again, the BSAA has shown their incompetent strategies and disregard for soldiers!" Delfredi growled, "The truth hides with me, but your ignorance will soon come to an end. I have captured not one, but two of your soldiers who have broken into my lab, looking for the truth themselves. If you make an attempt to rescue them: Congratulations. You're showing courage in the face of your failures. Before you act, there are certain conditions that must be met. If these conditions aren't met, I will kill both captives." Stevie and Kate bit their tongues in anticipation, eyes glued on the screen. "The first condition is this: The team that you send must be smaller than a four-man unit. The second condition is this: That team must be lead by a true survivor: Jill Valentine."

The silhouette disappeared as Keith closed the video player. Stevie and Kate were silent, absorbing the information that had been imparted to them. Despite the emptiness of the room, the atmosphere felt darker, as if 'Delfredi' was still in the room. The hacker turned to Jill. "Man, this guy's just like Veltro, ain't he?" Keith said, an edge of depression in his tone, "Makes you wonder what else he's done."

Jill nodded, still staring up at the screen. "Exactly," she replied, turning to the two girls, " He's caused massive civilian casualties in the area surrounding his hideout," the female agent explained, "Not to mention critically injured one agent, and he's most likely captured Chris and Mattie, if the new video is any indication."

Quint shrugged his shoulders. "If that's the case, they're probably complete freak shows by now," the hacker added, earning a smack on the head from Keith. "Ow! What was dat for?!"

"Dude! Not cool!" Keith hissed, keeping one eye on Kate and Stevie, "Not in front of the newbies!"

Quint nursed the spot on his head that had been hit. "Sorry Grinder…" he apologized.

"Sheesh! What's wrong with you man?" Keith responded, leaning back in his chair in a huff.

"That's enough you two," Jill snapped. The men calmed down and exchanged annoyed glances.

Kate suddenly spoke up. "Any idea why he's targeting you, Jill?" When the chips were down, the timid got analytical.

Jill shrugged her shoulders. "No idea. I've made plenty of enemies in my time. It's possible there are some that I'm not even aware about," she explained, "but if Delfredi has captured Chris, it's not a good omen."

"Yeah," Keith agreed, "Funny thing is, Captain Redfield went AWOL after the mission in Edonia went bad."

The hinges of the seat creaked as Quint leaned back in his chair. "Guy disappeared quicker than Houdini!" Jill sent the two men a dirty look. Quint and Keith averted their gazes back to the monitors in shame.

Jill gave another sigh. "The events of that mission are confidential to all cadets and low ranking soldiers. What happened on that mission— It wasn't supposed to end like it did. Chris was unconscious when he was checked into the hospital. Then he went missing before anyone else saw him."

"Why don't you go talk to Piers?" Keith suggested, "He'd know more."

Stevie and Kate glanced at each other in extreme confusion, the same thought going through their heads. "Excuse me, but," Stevie asked, "Who's Beards?"

The two hackers shared a chuckle. "**Piers**," Jill emphasized, " was Chris' lieutenant in Edonia. He and Chris were the only survivors of that mission. We've still got the communication logs in the system, but we're still trying to figure out what happened. Piers was so shell-shocked when he came back stateside, he wouldn't speak to anyone."

Quint made a few discreet keystrokes on his keyboard, and an audio recording appeared on the large screen. "Lt. Piers Nivans here, in position with Alpha team," a young man's voice, presumably Piers' reported.

"Chris to HQ, requesting clearance to proceed with mission," the voice of Chris added.

"This is HQ," a third voice reported, "You are clear to proceed with the mission. Good luck out there." The audio file went silent, only for a second file to start up in its place.

Gunfire raged in the background. "This is Chris! We've come into contact with BOWs! We've never seen anything like this!"

"Captain! We're losing men fast! We need orders!" a soldier shouted in the background.

"Good God what is that thing?!" another voice cried out.

"We need back-up!" Chris shouted, "Piers, get your ass over here now!"

The audio file stopped, and another one began. "This is Piers to HQ! We've made contact with huge BOWs! Requesting an air strike down here!"

"Copy that, but we cannot send out any air support at this time. The area is too hot."

"Are you kidding me?! We need air support NOW!" Piers replied," We're losing men way too fast out here!"

"Piers get down!" Chris' voice broke in, right before a large 'boom' sounded, ending the transmission in white noise.

Jill turned to the balding hacker. "I thought I said those were confidential!" she snapped at Quint.

"Sorry, Jill," he apologized, casting a glance back at Stevie and Kate, "But they really oughta know what went down. Last one's going up." Quint pressed a button on his keyboard, and the audio file began to play.

The girls listened with rapt attention. "This is . . . Lt Nivans," Piers spoke, interrupted by his own pants for breath, "… need evac . . .right now. Capt. Redfield is unconscious . . . possible concussion, but alive. . . .Send evac . . . coordinates: 9758-sector BS01 . . . Green zone."

"Copy that. How many survivors?"

"Just myself and the Captain. . . . everyone else . . . dead."

" . . . Roger. Stay in the green zone until further notice."

"Why the hell would we want to move?" Piers replied. A distinct grunting rumbled in the background before evolving into a yell of anguish. "Captain Redfield!" Piers shouted, having forgotten about the radio. Then the transmission ended with more static.

Quint reached up and stopped the recording. "And that's all, she wrote," he stated.

"Lots of people were in here, listening to the transmissions from that mission," Keith recounted to the two girls, "Including Mattie."

A lightbulb flicked on in Kate's head. "But isn't she still a cadet?" she asked, "Jill said that mission was confidential."

"Chris and I began her special training as soon as she arrived," Jill explained, "She wanted to keep a tab on him and Piers while they were out."

"What'd she think when she heard about this?" Stevie questioned, referring to the recorded transmissions.

Jill paused, recounting the situation. "She was upset. It was easy to see why; she was a big fan of Chris back in her 'civilian life', and she and Piers have been close friends for a while," the female agent replied, "But she was so relieved when Piers made a video call from the hospital. She talked to him for hours, asking if he and Chris were okay. Which is why—"

"You wanted to see me ma'am?" a young man interrupted. All three women turned in place; they hadn't even heard him come in. The man stood at attention a short distance away from the trio, as if waiting for orders. He resembled a younger version of Chris: tall, short spiky dark brown hair, dark eyes.

"Piers?" Jill inquired in curiosity, "What are you doing down here?"

As he talked, Stevie and Kate continued to stare, each wrapped in their own thoughts. "So that's him…" Stevie thought, remembering his voice from the audio recordings.

"He looks so tired," Kate thought to herself, noticing the dark circles under his eyes, "and that mission must have only been a few months ago."

Jill's voice interrupted their thoughts. "Quint!" she snapped at the hacker again, upon hearing Piers' report.

"Wha?! Why me?! I didn't do it," the older man tried to explain himself.

"That was me, ma'am," Keith confessed from his seat, "I paged him."

Now it was Quint's turn to snap. "Grinder!"

"Captain Valentine?" Piers requested, earning Jill's attention back on him. "Would you mind telling me why these cadets are here?" he asked, gesturing to Kate and Stevie.

The female agent was at a loss for words. "Oh, yes," she replied, "Piers, this is Kate," She gestured to the two girls. "and Stevie. They're friends of Mattie's that just graduated to cadet rank."

"Pleasure," Piers replied, giving a nod of acknowledgement to the two girls, which they returned in kind. "Any reason I've been called down here?"

"Actually Piers," Jill stated, "We need to talk to you again about what happened in Edonia. Care to recount your side of the story?"

Piers gave an official nod to Jill. "Of course, ma'am," he replied, "Where do you want me to begin?"

"Start with the beginning, right after HQ granted your team permission to proceed," Jill instructed.

Piers gave another nod. "Right," he said, and he began giving his testimony. Jill listened carefully, absorbing every little detail, whereas Stevie and Kate only half-listened, but managed to catch the general events of the report anyway. Quint and Keith's brains had checked out a long time ago and had gone back to analyzing the evidence they had on the computers.

"Thank you, Piers," Jill stated once the soldier had finished, "I'm sure this will help us find Chris. You are dismissed." The blue-clad agent turned to Quint and Keith as Piers moved towards one of the exits of the 'Pit'. "Guess I'm going on a rescue mission," she said, "Hopefully I can net a few semi-trained volunteers to fill in as backup before I have to go." No sooner had she said that, two hands shot into the air, and Jill knew that there was no way to change their minds.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hi everyone! Happy Memorial Day! Sorry to keep you all waiting. School just tossed a lot of semester projects at me and I have graduation coming up. So I procrastinated and wrote this instead. I hope everyone likes it, even though its a short chapter! Don't foregt to leave a review or favorite/subscribe if you have not done so. **

**Before I forget, I want to thank my newest reader/reviewer Toasty2006(). Love you Toasty! Speaking of which, where are my regulars! You guys didn't leave me a message last chapter! I miss you.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Delfredi is the brainchild of my collaborator JediSpartan217. Stevie, Kate, and Mattie own themselves. Oh, and extra kudos for JediSpartan217 for story ideas!**

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The cadets sat in the helicopter quietly, staring out of the transport as the sun began to set over the many small villages and dense forests of Eastern Europe, only half-listening to the briefing their captain was giving them. Stevie and Kate remained silent, thoughts focused on finding Mattie and then getting back to the BSAA headquarters without blowing their cover or the mission. All contact with Ada was severed until the mission was over, leaving them to count on Jill to lead the mission. After many hours of flight, the helicopter landed in a clear space near the edge of the woods and allowed the search team to jump off before retreating back into the sky.

"Alright," Jill explained, "We're going to have to walk from here so Delfredi doesn't notice our approach. We should be able to get there under cover of darkness. Understood?" The two cadets nodded, and the group crossed the threshold into the forest.

"Hey Jill?" The older agent turned to her new team members. "Thank you for bringing us along on this mission, Jill," Stevie said, "It really means a lot."

"For you two, no problem," she replied. "Two willing cadets are better than going in without backup. And besides," the female agent continued, "You have your friend to look for. As do I."

"Sorry if we caused any trouble. We'll do our best," Kate promised, "I just hope there's something we can do. We only just arrived, after all."

Jill glanced back at the two girls. "Don't apologize. I have no doubt Mattie would be doing the same if either of you were in trouble," she replied.

Stevie stepped around a splintering tree trunk, only to run into a patch of stinging nettles. "Sheesh! Who build a facility in the middle of the woods?" she complained under her breath as she moved her foot to a safer spot. Thankfully the BSAA issued boots and fatigues were sturdy enough to defend the wearer from hazardous flora.

"No idea," Kate replied under her breath as she untangled her ponytail from a low-hanging branch, "but I suppose its better than a mansion."

Jill hacked thorny tendrils out of the path ahead with her knife, holding a tree branch to hold her balance. "Can one of you get HQ on the radio? My hands are a little full," she called, "And don't forget to use your call signs!"

Kate nodded and turned on her radio, which sat at the side of her belt. "This is Aspen, checking in with HQ. We're on the ground about a mile away from the location," she reported.

Static buzzed from the radios. "This is Jackass! Is ever'thing okay down there?" Quint's voice entered through the communication headsets.

Jill stopped hacking plants back long enough to activate her earpiece. "We're getting close to the facility," she reported, "Once we get in, we're going to need complete radio silence unless we call for back-up. We don't know what kind of technology Delfredi has in his hideout."

"You got it ladies," Quint promised, "See you on the other side! Jackass out."

The radio went silent. Jill looked back at her new partners. "We're almost there. Be ready for anything," the female agent warned before resuming her battle with the thorn bush.

The two cadets nodded affirmative. "Don't worry about us, Jill," Stevie replied, "We're older, stronger, and smarter than we used to be. As long as everything goes well, we'll be out of here lickety-split."

"Here's hoping," the older agent replied as she hacked the last of the thorns out of the way and moved forward. As the sky grew darker, the foliage became denser and more difficult to navigate as the spaces between the trees became filled with thick shrubbery. The search party straggled through the woods for half a mile before the group came upon a small grove illuminated by moonlight, offering a break from the heavy foliage. The soil became softer underneath the BSAA agents' boots, and pieces of twigs and tree bark replaced the thorny scrubs the agents had been forced to wade through. Several scratches cover the trees, and snapped branches clung to the trees by their fleshy sinews.

"Looks like something's been crashing through this area," Kate observed, looking closer at slash marks that decorated many of the trees, "It looks similar to an angry bear scratch, but bears aren't native to this area, and the horizontal direction seems to suggest that it wasn't a wildcat either."

"Then it's probably a BOW's claw marks; we're in the right place," Jill confirmed. She crouched to the ground, examining something in the soil. "Strange. There are some faint tracks here, but they turn back in the direction of the facility."

"Why the heck would they do that?" Stevie asked, hands on her hips as she watched her teammates investigate.

"Good question," Jill replied as she brushed her gloves off and stood upright, "For now, let's find that facility."

The two protégés nodded in agreement, and the party moved forward. The three women took care as they snuck up to the side of the concrete building, wary of the fragile twigs that littered their path.

"This is it. From Parker's report, this is the door he used to get in," Jill glanced down to the bottom of the door, noticing the dusty, undone padlock on the forest floor. "Looks like Mattie's handiwork," she said quietly, remembering how her student had taken to lock picking like a fish to water, "The emergency locks haven't been undone either."

Stevie knelt down and gave a tug on the door. "Looks like its shut tight," she declared, looking over to her teammates, "We're not getting in unless we get technical." The dark-haired girl glanced around, stopping on a control panel at the far side of the door. A blinking red light signaled that the panel was still operable. "Looks like this place still has power. Kate, you wanna do some magic on that panel?"

The quiet agent's eyes found the panel. "I'll see what I can do," she said as se cleared the dust away from the touchpad, revealing numbers. "It's pass code protected," she reported to her comrades, "No matter." The glasses-wearing agent unzipped the back satchel on her belt, and after a few seconds of digging, produced a code-breaking kit (courtesy of Quint,) and a screwdriver. The kit consisted of a small, black box with a screen on it, and various wires.

The screwdriver came first. Sticking the other two items in an empty pocket of the cadet's uniform, Kate began work on unscrewing the front plate on the panel. Once the metal sheet fell away, the quiet girl replaced the screwdriver with the wires, twisting one of the copper strings in the machine to its counterpart. The free wire was connected to the box. The box's screen lit up, and a series of numbers began running down the screen, stopping when a correct number hit its place in the code. After five digits, Kate punched the code into the security panel, and the blinking crimson light switched to solid green, followed by a heavy 'clunk'.

"We're in," she confirmed, spotting the two hanging chains near her teammates heads, "Try pulling on these chains. We ought to be able to open this now." Stevie and Jill nodded and each took a section of chain.

"Ready, one two- pull!" Jill ordered. She and Stevie yanked down on the chains, and sure enough, the door began to creep upwards, opening a path for the agents. As the door opened, moonlight illuminated the hall, revealing glassy-eyed, reptilian corpses of the Hunter BOWs Parker had told them about. As if the sight of the bodies wasn't frightening enough, the pungent smell of decay and rot wafting out of the corridor was worse, smelling as though everything but the corpses had been soaked in formaldehyde.

"Ugh!" Stevie complained as she protected her nose from the stench, "This is just nasty!"

Kate's response was more controlled. "That's . . . that's really macabre," she commented as her vision danced over the corpses. Despite the cadets' resistance, Jill pulled a flashlight from her back harness and entered the facility. The younger agents were stunned by the older woman's bravery before realizing they were supposed to follow her. "Jill! Hold up!"

The blue-clad agent halted in her path, stopping near a pile of Hunter corpses as the duo caught up to her. "Looks like a massacre happened here. The bullet casings on the floor match same ones we use," Jill observed before turning to her partners. "What do you two think?"

"Someone forgot to call a cleaning lady?" Stevie replied, laying sarcasm on every syllable as she took careful steps to avoid stepping on a corpse, "This place is a dump, and not just because of the stiffs. The ceiling's got cobwebs."

Kate held her nose shut with one hand as her gaze met the glazed-over eyes of the lifeless Hunters, willing herself not to retch. "This is definitely where Mattie and Parker got ambushed," she added, sweeping her flashlight on the tiled floor, "There's a blood trail on the floor as well."

"I'm willing to bet its Parker's," Jill added, scanning further into the hall before finding on a specific landmark. "There it is!" she declared. The two cadets followed the older agent as she strode to the marked case. Two more sets of flashlight beams fell on the Umbrella logo.

"Umbrella again?" Stevie asked as Jill scrutinized the metal case, "I thought they were long gone by now."

"We 'Thought' they were," Kate added, "But who knows how it got here?"

Jill brushed off the top of the case, sending a cloud of dust floating into the air. "Well, based on our briefing information, this used to be an Umbrella facility, that is until all the staff mysteriously disappeared," the older woman explained.

"Let me guess, they got zombified?" Stevie added, flashlight firmly gripped in her hand as she watched both ends of the hall.

"More likely just cut and run before they ran bankrupt," the brunette agent answered, "Help me open this up." Kate covered her partners' backs as Stevie aided Jill in pulling the top of the metal case off, allowing it to fall to the floor as Jill investigated the inside. "Damn it!" the older woman cursed, "It's empty. Nothing but packing product."

Kate took a peek inside. "Judging from the shape of the packing foam, this case was carrying several test tubes of chemicals. Can't figure out which ones, though."

"Wonderful," Stevie commented sarcastically, glancing back at the dead Hunters by accident. The stillness prompted a chill to race up her spine, anticipating one of the dead Hunters to leap up at any second. "Hey, uh, can we get a move one?" the dark-haired cadet asked, with a twinge of nervousness in her voice, "All these dead bodies are giving me the creeps."

Kate and Jill shared a look before backing away from the chemical transport crate and returning to the mission. "C'mon. There's probably more clues further inside. The sooner we find Mattie and Chris the better," Jill encouraged, prompting her team to press deeper into the facility.

The corridor extended several meters, and the search party pushed forward to find that someone had left the overhead lights on, illuminating the area in a sterile, white glow. It was safe to say that the entire group was slightly unnerved by the change as they turned off their flashlights, but remained calm nonetheless.

At the end of the corridor, the hall split to the left and right with rows of doors on either side. The group stopped at the fork. "Looks like we have two ways to go," Jill said.

Stevie shook her head. "Oh no. We are not splitting up if we don't have to! Not in this place!" she objected, "It's creepy enough already."

"There could be valuable evidence in either direction," Kate stated before looking to Jill, "So what do we do?"

Jill stood quiet as she considered a plan. " . . . We'll check the doors in this general area," she ordered, gesturing to the doors lining the hallway, "Stay within visual range. You two take the left side; I'll take the right side. We'll cover more ground."

Stevie and Kate shared a glance, finding no reason to argue with Jill's plan. The two cadets trekked down the left fork of the hall, checking behind them to maintain visual range of Jill. Stevie began testing the handles on the doors, finding many of them to be locked. "Damn, they locked this place up tight," she whispered, having no luck with the fifth door she tried.

Meanwhile, Kate had wandered ahead of Stevie, peeking through the windows of each door, hoping to find evidence. "Looks like these are all labs," she reported, taking a closer look at the objects inside, "A lot of the equipment is still here. The scientists must have had to leave their projects behind."

A heavy, metallic noise sounded behind the agents, rolling downward before hitting the floor. The team looked back to where they had split up, finding that a steel bulkhead had closed off the hall with the Hunter bodies, preventing any form of escape. The agents were quick to draw their handguns, only to halt in their actions when the intercom activated. "Welcome BSAA," a deep voice greeted. The team turned to the voice's source, a loudspeaker, recognizing the owner from the videotapes immediately. "I've been expecting you for some time. You may call me Dr. Delfredi."

Stevie was the first to react. "You sick son of a bitch!" she shouted at the speaker, "You better not have hurt Chris and Mattie!"

Delfredi gave a small, yet menacing chuckle. "Don't be so quick to judge until you've learned the truth," he warned, sending shivers into the cadets' cores.

Now it was Jill's turn to speak. "What truth?" she asked, knowing that aggression would get them nowhere.

"The truth about human nature," Delfredi replied, "I will show you this truth through a series of tests I've developed, though I prefer to call them my 'Playtime'. However, you cannot have the truth until you discover it yourselves."

After Delfredi spoke, a second bulkhead slammed shut between the search party, separating the two cadets from their leader. "Jill!" Kate cried out, activating the local radio connection rushing to the sealed bulkhead, "Are you alright?"

Jill's voice came through the headset. "I'm all right. What about you two?"

"We're both okay," Stevie reported, "I knew splitting up was a bad idea."

Kate checked the area around the bulkhead. "I don't see a control box!" she added, "I can't hack this door!"

"Then we're going to have to go through the facility and meet up later," Jill ordered. The two cadets didn't speak. How long they would have to go without instructions from a superior? They'd be running around half-blind. The very thought made their muscles tighten. "Be careful, okay?"

"We will," Stevie promised before cutting off the connection with Jill, listening the agent's footsteps fade away before looking to her partner. Kate clung to the bulkhead, as if hoping to pass through the material and disappear. Stevie clapped one hand on her companion's shoulder. "C'mon. We better get a move on and finish this Delfredi guy's 'Playtime' as quick as possible," the short-haired cadet advised, "Then we can find everyone else, and hopefully kick Delfredi's face in before we leave."

Kate turned to meet Stevie's gaze. Despite the worried look behind her thick glasses, the older cadet sighed and nodded in agreement. With their guns at the ready, the two undercover agents stepped away from the bulkhead and began to venture deeper into the facility, awaiting whatever challenges Delfredi held in store for them.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello everyone! If you are reading this, it means I have less than two months of freedom until I have to ship out to college! And in that time, I intend to play video games! Maybe not entirely Resident Evil, but I will stick with this fan fiction nonetheless. **

**Sorry for not keeping up with my usual schedule. Life got in the way and this chapter gave me some trouble to write; I'm not used to writing slow, suspenseful scenes. It turns out the best thing to do is to start writing, and the rest will come eventually.**

**I'm not sure if everyone caught this detail, but I've aged Stevie, Mattie, and Kate up by four years since UCSH. By my calculations, they're all around 22 years of age by now. I've got to stop referring to them as 'the girls'; that detail keeps sticking with me, it's gonna take a while to work it out of my system.**

**In other news, my friend JediSpartan217 hand-illustrated a guide on the universes of the current UnConventional Survival Horror series. It made me so happy I could have died right there. I cannot praise her hard work enough.**

**Also, I 'm sorry if it feels like I'm nagging my reviewers. I just miss everybody. And am I the only one who is annoyed by the new 'comment' system the site just added? Anyway, thank you everybody that left a review! I love hearing everyone's feedback.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. All non-canon characters own themselves, except for Delfredi. He is Jedispartan217's creation.**

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The two cadets walked side by side as they journeyed through the facility, covering each other's blind spot as they pressed inward. Time was at a standstill. By a wild guess, it had been almost an hour, maybe more since Delfredi had last spoken to them. Which meant they had been walking long enough to get themselves hopelessly lost. Both Stevie and Kate had remained silent since they parted ways with Jill, preferring to focus their energy on preparing for Delfredi's challenges. Despite the novices' choice to settle their thoughts and stay quiet, the lack of noise, save for the hum of the fluorescent lights, made the roots of their hair bristle. Without instructions, both cadets were beginning to feel vulnerable and naked. Unprotected.

The halls were filled with doors. Every single one of the portals was the same glowing white as the walls, evenly spaced on either side. The apprentice agents didn't bother to check the doors anymore; both of them were too smothered in their own thoughts to think clearly.

After a disturbingly long trek down the monochromatic corridors, the cadets rounded the corner to find the hall ahead of them obstructed by metal. The steel crates were piled higher than their heads, leaving no footholds to hold onto should they try to climb, and no spaces wide enough between the crates to crawl through.

"Ugh, a dead end," Stevie moaned, glaring up at the mountain of metal from under her bangs, "Now what?"

Now it was Kate's turn to sigh as she began to put logic to work. " I doubt Delfredi would lure us this far in just to have us stop here," she said, turning around to take stock of the hallway behind them, "There's no sign of death traps. There's gotta be another path."

Stevie turned to face the same area as Kate. "Guess it's through one of these doors," she stated. The dark-haired cadet started testing the doors. "C'mon! We won't know which one it is until we test it!"

Kate joined her friend and began checking the opposite side of the hall. The doors on each side were immovable as stone. All but one. After many tries, one of the doors opened under Stevie's hand. "Found it!" the excitable cadet announced as her friend as the door fell ajar. Kate stopped her inspections on the doors and moved to stand besides Stevie, examining the new room carefully.

The room was one of the abandoned laboratories. Rows of cryogenic freeze chambers lined two of the walls, their glass covers blurred over with moisture. Steam rose up from the tops of the chambers, lending comforting, yet humid warmth to the room. Before each row of chambers stood two long lab tables, spaced apart far enough to form three aisles for the agents to move through. Near the center of the room sat an antique projector, rusted over with neglect. A second door sat in the far wall, as if inviting the duo to enter.

"There's our way around!" Stevie declared as she crossed the threshold of the doorframe. Kate followed her soundlessly, taking note of a security camera following their movements from its place on the ceiling. "Man, this place is surprisingly clean. I wonder what this room was used for," the younger cadet commented.

"Let's hope we don't find out," Kate answered the rhetoric, speaking softer then usual. The intense quietude of the facility had sparked a state of hyper-awareness within the older cadet, making her senses sharpen to a threshold. To her eyes, the lights glowed brighter, and every little noise stole the quiet agent's attention. The light brunette scanned her surroundings nervously, keeping track of her partner's footsteps the entire time. The silence of the facility was not what she and Stevie were accustomed to. No, this silence was reminiscent of death, complete with preserved specimens frozen in test tubes. The room even smelled faintly of chloroform to top it all off.

Stevie made it to the door on the far side of the room first. Despite jiggling the handle many times, the door remained shut. "Damn it," she cursed under her breath, the echo reverberating into the room, "Why does this one have to be locked? There isn't even a keyhole!"

The first door slammed shut behind them. Both agents spun around, only to hear the lock click shut. They were trapped. Kate stood still, willing herself not to panic as Stevie ran to the other side of the room and began to pound a fist on the door in rage. "Oi! What the hell?" she shouted towards the ceiling, hoping that Delfredi would answer, "What's the big idea here?"

An intercom speaker crackled to life. "I see you have found my first puzzle, well done," the ominous voice of their captor spoke. Both cadets turned towards the source of Delfredi's voice. "Let's find out if your mind is as quick as your reflexes; you'll need both to exit this room alive," he warned, the two agents imagining the malicious grin spread across his face as he finished the message.

"And I thought I was cryptic," Kate commented sarcastically as the situation began to sink in.

Stevie growled, still leaning against the door. "I really hate this guy," she snarled under her breath. The younger agent turned to her partner, detaching herself from the locked door. "How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?"

Kate replayed Delfredi's message in her head. "I think we have to solve his puzzle if we want to escape," the glasses-wearing cadet recalled aloud, as she glanced about the area, "but so far I don't see much to work with." She turned her head back to Stevie. "But we need to calm down first; we're never going to get out of here if we can't think clearly."

Stevie took a series of calming breaths, running a gloved hand through her short hair as she did so. "Alright," she agreed, "Let's just figure out his puzzle and move on." The dark-haired cadet returned to her partner's side. "Got any ideas yet?"

Kate nodded quickly. "It's might be something to do with this projector," she hypothesized, walking over to the device, "I don't see any other reason it's supposed to be here."

"Okay…." Stevie agreed, drawing out the word in confusion, "What do we have to do with it?"

Kate examined the projector more closely. A lens was set in the front, pointed to a blank area of the wall. There were multiple long slits in the sides of the machine, presumably meant for picture slides to sit in as they were shown. A power switch was placed on the back of the device. "Check the area, the slides for this thing must be here somewhere," the calmer girl instructed.

The two women split to either side of the room, checking the lab tables and cabinets for supplies. The search didn't last long. "Found 'em!" Stevie verified as she checked the contents of a box she found tucked away inside a cabinet. She carried them over to her companion. "I believe these are what we are looking for?"

Kate checked the slides in the box. "Perfect," she said, pulling out one of the large, framed slides, "Let's try putting one in." The slide fit smoothly into the slots on each side of the projector. Once the slide sat straight, Stevie flicked the projector on. The wall in front of them lit up, casting an unintelligible, ink-blotted image on the surface. Nothing happened.

"Huh," Stevie commented, still staring up at the wall, "Guess that one didn't work." She turned to her comrade. "Think we should try another?"

As the agents spoke among themselves, one of the cryo-chambers began its release procedures silently on one side of a room. Heat was pumped into the holding cell as the door began to automatically disengage its locks. Traces of movement were discernable behind the glass as the specimen inside began to thaw out. Once the creature inside was awake, the glass door slid open.

The zombie's instincts first registered its craving for flesh, followed by its ability to move, and then the varied sounds coming from one end of the room, which meant one thing: Food. Ignoring the protests of its stiff limbs, the zombie stumbled its way around the lab table in front of it, making a staggered beeline for the unaware prey on the other side of the room.

"What if we rotate the slide instead?" Stevie discussed, oblivious to the nearing threat.

"Maybe we're supposed to put in multiple slides?" Kate tried, "There are certainly enough—!" She halted mid-sentence, taking notice of the dangerously encroaching zombie. Her hand went for her gun. "Stevie! Behind you!" she warned, aiming for the zombie skulking behind her friend.

The dark-haired cadet's eyes widened, then swiveled her head, catching a glimpse at the rotting zombie. "WHOA!" she exclaimed loudly before ducking to the ground. Three shots fired above her head before the zombie slumped to the ground, leaking crimson blood as it lay there. Stevie took four seconds to recover from the surprise: two to be certain that the zombie was dead, and two to regain her composure. "That's right! You'd better back off, buddy!" the younger agent taunted as she brushed off her uniform and got back to her feet, "Nobody is taking a bite out of me tonight! I am not your personal Happy Meal, got it?" The zombie didn't move. " . . . I thought so. "

"You done yet?" Kate inquired as she put her gun away, remembering how fond her teammate was of theatrics.

Stevie gave a hum of affirmation and turned back to the puzzle. "So, what should we do about this?"

Kate leaned over to inspect the projector more thoroughly. "Something we did caused the zombie to pop out," she deducted, "But what triggered it?"

Stevie shrugged her shoulders. "Dunno," she said, "How about we try NOT turning this thing on next time?" Kate nodded in agreement. She turned the projector off, removed the slide, and then replaced it with a fresh one, not bothering to turn the machine back on. The agents waited. No result. "Huh," the dark-haired cadet spoke, beating her companion to the punch, "That wasn't the problem. Must be something to do with the slides. Try lighting it up again."

Kate flicked the 'On' switch. The wall lit up, this time with a different blurred image cast upon it. The duo waited with bated breath for their next challenge. Sure enough, another one of the holding cells activated. The agents' guns snapped upwards, anticipating the next target. The cell door slid open, revealing another zombie as it fell forward. The creature stood up, revealing decaying, blood-tinted skin. A Crimson Head.

The agents stood in shock, frozen in place as they realized what they were up against. One of them shouted, "Open fire!" as the zombie began to charge; both agents were too scared to grasp who spoke first. Several bullets were discharged, halting the Crimson in its steps before it fell to the ground. The agents' pulses hammered in their chests, pumping adrenaline through their systems. After several seconds of waiting for the zombie to get back up again, the two agents signaled each other with their eyes, reassuring the other that it was safe. Both girls breathed a sigh of relief as they put their handguns away.

"That one was a doozy," Kate panted, "I'm beginning to wish I had my rifle back."

"Yeah," Stevie breathed, "What I wouldn't give for a shotgun right now." Both agents returned their attention to the projector. "Now what do we do about this puzzle?"

"It seems that whenever we get it wrong, a monster pops out," Kate noted, taking a glance at the two zombies they had felled, "I wouldn't be surprised if they get stronger every time we fail."

Stevie growled in frustration again. "If only we knew how to solve it!" she replied, "I don't know about you, but I'm getting sick of monsters jumping at us. How's your clip?"

Kate checked the magazine of her gun. "I've still got a fair number of bullets, " she said, "But we're going to have to start being careful. This is only the first challenge."

Stevie nodded. "Right. Let's check these holding cells; see what we're up against," the dark-haired agent suggested. The quiet cadet agreed and took one side of the room, wiping the moisture off the glass with her sleeve. Stevie took the opposite side. Between the two of them, they uncovered a series of BOWs: a Cerberus, a pale, monkey-like Eliminator, a fly-like Chimera, a Hunter, and an all too recognizable Licker. Each monster stronger than the last. But the terrors didn't stop there.

Stevie wiped away the moisture off the last panel of glass and froze. "Hey, Kate," she warned, staring up at the creature inside, "We got a Tyrant over here." The older cadet rushed over to her partner's side and looked up. Sure enough, the milky eyes of the giant monster, complete with exposed heart and spear-like claws, was staring down at them through the glass.

"Oh, boy," the glasses-wearing cadet said under her breath, as if the Tyrant would wake up if she spoke too loud, "We'd better get that puzzle right. Otherwise there's no chance of us getting out of here alive."

* * *

Jill Valentine stepped through the winding halls cautiously, keeping her breathing steady and her handgun primed just in case. Ever since she had been separated from her partners, no obstacles had stood in her way; not a single blockade or monster made an attempt to stop her. Nothing at all. There was only Jill, the brightly lit hallway in front of her, and the threat of a pulsing migraine from staring at the reflective white walls and tile for too long. Jill ignored the soreness of her eyes and focused on micromanaging her air intake, her personal anti-anxiety mechanism. The absence of obstacles was something she was not accustomed to. Sure, dealing with zombies or BOWs on a regular basis was a trying job on its own, but a barren, empty hallway devoid of life scared the shit out of the agent. It got to the point where Jill realized that the presence of a single corpse would actually calm her down a little in those situations. Nevertheless, she wouldn't be surprised if Delfredi led her down this corridor solely to rile her nerves. And if that was his purpose, he was definitely succeeding.

After significant progress into the facility, the main hall ended at a set of dark gray double doors, granting the agent a break from the stark, colorless atmosphere she was surrounded in. The doors offered no resistance, Jill found as she pushed them open and entered the next room.

This room was much, much darker than the hallway she had come out of, forcing her to squint as her vision slowly adjusted to the new surroundings. Once acclimated, the agent was able to confirm that she had wandered into some sort of warehouse, with the room's arcing ceiling overhead and dim lights illuminating the sheer size of the space. Two, maybe even three whole houses could fit in there if anybody so desired. It made Jill wonder how big the facility really was. Whatever wasn't covered by light was bathed in shadows. Jill found herself releasing a sigh of relief when the light revealed several stacks of wooden crates piled around the room. There was no visible order in how the crates were arranged, Jill pondered, so there had to be some strategic purpose. Either way, they would be good for combat cover if the situation came down to it.

An intercom crackle disrupted her thoughts. "Agent Valentine, how kind of you to show up for 'Playtime'," Defredi's voice greeted from an invisible speaker somewhere in the room.

Jill cast her eyes upward, taking note of the security camera pointed in her direction. "I hope for your sake that this 'Playtime' is more than a wild goose chase," she replied calmly, despite the circumstances, "Where are the captives?"

Delfredi gave a light chuckle. No doubt belittling her sense of professionalism, she thought as he gave his answer. "Both captives are still alive, that is, until you or your cadets decide to do something foolish," he assured. But to the brunette agent below, his tone was everything short of reassurance. "And on the contrary, 'Playtime' has only just begun."

Jill felt a pit of rage roil in her stomach. "What of the cadets I brought?" she questioned, her own voice growing harsher. She was getting sicker of Delfredi's little cat-and-mouse game by the minute.

"Your teammates are unharmed, but my 'Playtime' is going to keep them on their toes," Delfredi warned, "Their continued existence depends on the choices they make." The female agent bit down on her tongue as she considered the answer carefully. He was right; there was nothing she could do to help her teammates. And she hated it.

"I suppose you have something planned for me as well?" Jill inquired, looking all around the warehouse for the first wave of BOWs to attack.

"I have a special surprise planned for you, Agent Valentine," Delfredi stated. "It seems that somebody has been dying to see you. I hope you're ready to face the ghosts of your past."

Before Jill could ask what he was talking about, a loud, metallic crash echoed from a corner of the room. The agent's handgun flew upward and aimed directly at the space, focusing the outline of a severely deformed figure. "Who's there?" Jill demanded, "Identify yourself!" The hunched figure responded with a dull moan before slowly turning towards her. The agent gave a short gasp. "No," she told herself. Her memory flashed back to her short encounters with the members of STARS Bravo team, only to be followed by recollections of the Mansion Incident. "It can't be him. He was already dead when I found him." The figure wandered into the light. Even with the decaying skin clinging tightly to his bones, the zombie was only recognizable by tangled sections of long brown hair, a faded sailor's tattoo on its left arm, and a familiar blue vest. "Oh God . . . . Forest," Jill breathed. Her eyes widened a few inches, and then narrowed into dangerous almond-shaped slits. "You bastard," she addressed Delfredi, "Just what the hell have you done?"

Delfredi gave one last chuckle. "The truth hurts, Agent Valentine. And yours may be the most painful of all."


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hey people! I'm posting from the coast today since I'm on vacation. Writing while watching the waves is nice. :) I just realized how quick my two-week deadline was coming up and decided to post. Chapters of this story might need deadline extensions; psychological horror is tricky. Reviews are awesome and motivate me to work. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but PLEASE be courteous.  
**

** For the record, near-death sequences are hard to write, especially since I haven't been in one myself, so I'm doing the best I can here with limited resources. I've tried looking up narrative accounts; I couldn't find anything helpful, so I've been relying on mood music a lot. If you want to troll me for getting it wrong, do it this chapter instead of waiting at the end. **

**Maybe psychological horror is not my forte after all.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil, its characters, or any recognizable references. Non-canon characters own themselves, except for Delfredi. He belongs to JediSpartan217.**

* * *

For what felt like the hundredth time, Stevie sensed her eyes glaze over. She caught her eyelids sliding downwards and snapped awake, giving a vigorous shake of her head in an effort to maintain focus. Squinting up at the overhead lights certainly wasn't helping much. She had been lying on her back, staring at the slides for what, an hour? And the images printed on the slides were not getting any clearer. If anything, they looked blurrier than when they started! The only progress that had been made was the agreement that multiple slides were probably needed to complete the puzzle, and wrong answers released a monster from its chilly prison. But those revelations were made ages ago, which only caused their headaches to pump even harder!

A sigh and the shuffling of fabric prompted the dark-haired cadet 's head upright. Despite occasional bouts of movement, Kate had not spoken a word since they had discovered the Tyrant. That meant either she was extremely focused, or totally zoned out. "Hey Kate," Stevie spoke. Her friend gave a short hum of acknowledgement; apparently she had been in her right mind the whole time. "This really, really, blows. Have I mentioned that?"

"Not really," Kate responded from her position on the floor. Her voice was solemn, as if she was drifting off to sleep. "I'm surprised one of us didn't say it earlier."

"Well, I'm saying it now," Stevie added, tilting her head to make eye contact with her friend. "You wanna take a break? You sound down."

Kate started to respond, pausing to give a large yawn before speaking. ". . . I'm all right. My brain is just overheated." Both agents laid down the slides they were holding and sat upright, stretching out stiff joints and sore limbs. Gloved hands dived into pockets and drew out bottles of water they had been given before the mission began. "Want a protein bar with that?" the quiet brunette asked, diving into her pockets a second time. It had been a while since both of them had eaten anything. Up until now, the two survivors had been running on adrenaline and nervous energy.

Stevie replied affirmative, and Kate tossed one of the protein bars to her friend before unwrapping a second one for herself. "Thank you, buddy," the younger cadet said before taking a bite of her food. The BSAA issued protein bars weren't too tasty, but they made for a quick, portable meal that granted enough energy to last a while. The problem was mostly that the compressed nutrients were too dense to consume in the middle of combat, which left soldiers to gnaw on the brick-like bars until they could bite a section off. Why the manufacturers had not yet decided to make them in flavors despite multiple requests was anybody's guess.

"Ya know something," Stevie spoke between bites of protein bar, "This puzzle is taking WAY too much time to figure out, even if a weirdo like Delfredi made it. It's way too complicated."

Kate considered her partner's words carefully, holding one end of the protein bar with her teeth. "Good point," she agreed, "The answer has probably been in front of us this whole time and we've been thinking too much to see it. That or something is missing."

Stevie nodded and took a swig of water before glancing back at the security camera. "Think it would kill him to give us a hint?" she suggested, "He's gotta be getting bored of watching us puzzle our brains out." The dark-haired cadet looked upward and began to speak to the camera. "Am I right?" she added, as if anticipating a reply from the madman. The only response was silence. Stevie gave a short shrug and turned back. "Well, it was worth a shot," she explained with a sigh, "Now what?"

"We can rest some more," Kate replied, "Then we look for clues. Let's rule out a missing hint before restarting from square one."

"Good idea, my brain is still fried."

The duo rested until they felt their strength return and headaches fade. With renewed spirits, they resumed their inspection of the slides, this time looking at every part of each piece for signs they may have missed before. Finding nothing, the agents organized the unhelpful slides into a pile, so they wouldn't throw themselves off later. The agents continued to work like that until the intercom came to life. "I don't believe it. What is taking them so long?" Delfredi's voice complained, interrupting the agents' thought processes, "This puzzle is not that difficult; even a five-year-old could do it faster! The BSAA must be desperate if they're allowing complete idiots into their ranks." Stevie and Kate turned their eyes upward in annoyance and stared directly into the camera, expecting more taunts to fly out. The dark-haired agent began to reply with a vulgar gesture towards the camera, only to receive a light smack on the head and a silent warning from her partner. Despite Kate's advice, Stevie proceeded to try even more offensive signs, only to be stopped again and again until the silent quarrel resorted into a sissy slap fight; both women were too friendly to inflict damage on each other. "Oh look, they've started hitting each other. Wait, why were they staring up at the camera?" he asked impatiently.

"Dr. Delfredi," a second voice spoke, bringing Stevie and Kate's slap fight to a halt. The two cadets looked back up at the camera. The voice was clearly female, and surprisingly unaltered from the sound of it, yet it belonged to no one they knew. "Your elbow is on the intercom button."

A long pause followed. "So it is," Delfredi stated. Again, silence followed; the duo waited. "Carry on with the test," he ordered before the intercom fell silent.

"Well, guess our guy isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer," Stevie commented as she turned back to her partner, "Where were we?"

"Trying to arrange these without getting killed," Kate reminded as she kneeled before the slides. "Although we may have just learned a few things about our friendly neighborhood mad scientist."

The dark-haired cadet raised an eyebrow. "Go on," she prompted.

"He's not working alone; he's got an assistant," Kate said, rearranging slides as she spoke, "Not to mention a big ego as well. And he's prone to mistakes. I'd say that tells us quite a bit."

Stevie nodded in agreement. "Right-o," she verified, "now let's get back to this puzzle before he taunts us a second time." Kate gave a short giggle at the Monty Python reference as her partner knelt opposite her. "Speaking of which, why didn't you let me insult him?"

"Think about it: Do we really want him to be angry when we're basically at his mercy?"

"So what? It's not like he can release all these monsters at once, can he?" Stevie joked, gesturing at the canisters of monsters around them.

"Well," Kate replied, "Delfredi is going to show us the hard way whether we like it or not. So the question is 'Do really we want to find out?'"

A short staring contest ensued between the two agents, each one daring to challenge the other's argument. Considering that a fifty-fifty chance of death was likely, the duo agreed that testing their luck would be a bad idea. "Okay," Stevie sighed as she picked up a set of slides to examine, "Back to puzzling our brains out. See anything useful?"

"I'm not seeing anything new yet," Kate stated, "What about you?"

"Not yet," Stevie replied. She tossed a pair of slides aside in frustration, ignoring them as they clattered to the floor. The dark-haired cadet began to reach for another group when she caught sight of something odd: An anomaly on some of the slides that had somehow gone unnoticed. "Hold the phone," she said, taking a few slides in her hands as she peered at them more closely, "There's writing on some of these."

Kate's head bobbed up. "What do you mean by 'writing'?" she asked, crawling toward her partner for a better look.

Stevie pointed out the detail as Kate edged closer. "Here, near the bottom. There's a section of letters printed here," she explained. She held the slide up to see against the fluorescent light. "Looks like its meant to be part of a word. Start searching."

The agents began taking second looks at the slides, and sure enough, a select number had pairs of letters printed on them. The duo took the slides and organized them into columns based on where each section of letters was printed. Then there was the matter of arranging the sections of letters into words, and then sentences. It took some time, but the cadets were able to form a phrase by holding the slides over each other.

"Okay, what have we got?" Kate asked, adjusting her glasses to read better. "Let's see, this combo reads, 'From whence they came'. That's vague."

"From whence WHO came? Umbrella?" Stevie asked. Kate shrugged in response. "That doesn't help us much. Some hint."

"'From whence they came'," Kate repeated, deep in thought as she searched for a connection. "'They' could be a WHAT, not a WHO,"

"So what could it be? The viruses?" Stevie tried, her voice laced with impatience.

Kate sighed. "Don't know."

"What about another combination?"

Kate glanced at the other sections of letters. "This combo seems to be the only one that works. The rest of the other word combinations are nonsense. This might be our hint."

"'From whence they came'. That's our clue? Is Delfredi frickin' serious!" Stevie objected. She and her partner had wracked their brains out for hours, only to be presented with a clue that made absolutely no sense at all!

Kate gave the two possible answers some thought. Both Umbrella and the viruses originated in Raccoon City and Arklay Mansion, so the queries made sense. But there was still the matter of forming the picture on the slides. "Hold the slides up to the lights," Kate instructed, "We might be able to see something."

The two agents held the slides up to the light, searching for an image. "It's still really blurry. I'm not seeing much," Stevie reported.

Kate leaned over to the set of slides her friend was holding, scanning the image for a detail that could have been missed. "It looks a bit like a map " the quiet agent said, "one of those hand-drawn, old-timey ones. See it?"

"So we're looking for a picture of a place 'From whence they came'," Stevie spoke, "It could still be Umbrella."

''They' refers to a group of something. We just don't know what that 'Something' is," Kate mused as she repeated the phrase in her head. The quiet agent drew her gaze away from the slides and glanced around the room. "What could 'they' be?" Her eyes scanned over the sealed cryogenic chambers, still considering the possibility of the first two answers. "Umbrella, viruses. What do those two have in common? Umbrella obviously created the viruses, and used them to create BOWs. The zombies, Hunters, Lickers, Tyrants-" Kate's thoughts stopped short upon revelation. "Wait!" she thought as she took another glance at each of the monsters. The BOWs in the room were from the first three chronological Resident Evil games, she remembered. Those took place in-!

"Stevie, let me see the slides with the maps and hint," she ordered.

"Okay, why do you want them?" the dark-haired cadet asked, handing the slides to her partner.

Kate took the slides. "I have a hunch. I hope I'm right," she said as she began loading slides into the projector. Once they were all in correctly, Kate switched the projector on. The wall lit up, projecting the clue and image on the screen. Sure enough, the image on the slide was a map of the area surrounding Raccoon City. And just outside the city, nestled in the Arklay forests, was the Umbrella Management

Training facility, with the Arklay Mansion not too far off. And to top it all off, the words 'From whence they came' were printed at the bottom.

The agents bit their tongues in anticipation, holding their handguns at the ready if they needed them. After several seconds of anticipation, the door to the left of the projection clicked open. Both women breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "We got it!" Kate breathed, happy that those nerve-wracking seconds had been for naught.

"What are we waiting for? Let's get out of here!" Stevie cheered as she pulled the door open the rest of the way, "C'mon buddy! One down, who knows how many more to go! Each success brings us closer to finding Jill and the others!"

Kate gave a soft smile. Stevie always knew how to cheer people up. "I wish I could share your enthusiasm," the calm agent said, "but I've had enough excitement for now."

Stevie gave a friendly shrug. "No biggie," she said, peering down the corridor beyond, "Looks like we got a bit of a walk ahead of us anyway. Let's go."

* * *

Jill dove behind a pile of crates, reminding herself to breathe light as to not alert the predator in the room. Her pulse was audible in her ears, the pattern constant as her own heartbeat. Even so, she had to focus. The crates proved to be an advantage and disadvantage. Jill had cover, but at the expense of a disrupted line of sight. Delfredi had set up a labyrinth.

The agent removed her cap and wiped away a few persistent beads of sweat that were trickling down her forehead, trying to get a grasp of where the copy of her old comrade in arms, Forest Speyer, was lurking.

The zombie may have caught sight of her at first, but Jill had speed and cover. As long as she stayed out of the zombie's sensory range, she could hide. Shortly after Jill took to hiding, Delfredi had sealed the only exits of the warehouse, trapping her with the zombie inside. It didn't take long for Jill to figure out that she had no choice but to kill her former coworker.

There had been plenty of chances to do it. But after freezing up at several clear shots, Jill found she didn't have the will to shoot him for the second time in her life. Her fingers just wouldn't pull the trigger. She was able to do it in the mansion, when her life had depended on the short time window she had to react. But now, when Delfredi gave her all the time in the world, she couldn't do it again. "Goddamn him," the agent cursed as she snuck around the crates.

Once the opportunity reared its head, Jill crept up behind the zombie and jumped onto its shoulders. A loud, sickening snap followed a sharp twist of her legs, and she leapt off quickly as the zombie fell forward to the ground. For the second time, Jill found herself off guard. A zombie couldn't be killed unless they were either decapitated or had their brain destroyed, then burned to make sure they wouldn't rise at a later time.

"What's going on?" Jill thought as she stared down at the unmoving corpse. After nudging the body with her foot, the agent knelt at the zombie's side. There was no way the zombie could be a copy of Forest, Jill thought as she examined the body, the corpse would have had to be preserved and pieced together after the Arklay mansion blew up. A task like that would be nothing short of herculean. The female agent started to stand up when something caught her eye: a pattern of ink underneath the zombie's vest collar. Jill moved the fabric aside to find a barcode tattooed into the zombie's decayed skin. "Strange," she thought as she touched the inked pigment on the monster's neck, "What is this doing here?"

A sharp beep from the intercom invaded the agent's thoughts. "Well done Agent Valentine," Delfredi's voice emerged from the intercom, "I never expected you to fight my creature without a weapon, but I must thank you for exposing a rather . . . fatal flaw in my design."

Jill stood to face the shadows that hid the source of the sound. Time to be professional. "I have asked you before and I will ask again: What have you done here?" she demanded.

Delfredi chuckled in response. "That is for me to know and you to find out. Don't forget the truth, either. You already know what I am talking about."

Jill narrowed her eyes. "Even with the truth, I would never resort to methods as extreme as yours," she spat in response. The female agent was in no mood to be toyed with.

"Do as you will," Delfredi replied, "But you will soon find that my methods are the only way to eradicate what you wish to destroy."

Not soon after he spoke, one of the doors leading out of the room unlocked with a click and swung ajar ever so slightly, inviting Jill to enter the next stage of Delfredi's tests. She entered the portal warily, unsure of what was next to come.

* * *

The corridor was even darker than the first entryway of the facility. All the lights had been turned off, leaving the two cadets to rely on their flashlights and natural night vision to see anything five meters away. Their path remained unimpeded for about half-an-hour until a wooden crate appeared in the middle of the corridor. The two agents stopped. "Huh, that's strange," Kate stated as she kept her flashlight trained on the box, "Why would this be here?"

Stevie turned off her torch and walked up to the crate. "Beats me," she said, "Any idea what's inside?"

"Only one way to find out," Kate replied. Stevie turned to face her friend, and with a nod of permission, the excitable cadet grinned wildly, brought her steel-protected boot up, and smashed it into the crate.

Despite the distance from the box, Kate shielded her face from the flying debris. Upon hearing the last pieces clatter to the floor, Kate caught a glimpse of the box's contents. "Ammo?" she asked, "Who would leave these out here?"

Stevie picked up one of the smaller boxes of bullets. Upon scrutinizing the package, the dark-haired cadet realized the bullets in the crate were the exact same type as the ammo the BSAA provided. Then she realized WHY the bullets had been placed there. "Oh geez," she warned, "Remember the what happens when RE games give you ammo?" Kate nodded. "It probably means there's something really, really, really bad around the corner."

No sooner than she spoke, a hidden intercom was activated and Delfredi's voice broke into the conversation. "Nice to see you survived the first round of 'Playtime'," he spoke, "But it will only get harder from here on out. Have fun."

"That doesn't bode well," Kate commented under her breath after the intercom shut off.

"Yeah. Better take as many as we can carry," Stevie added. She crouched to the floor and began to scoop up boxes of ammo in a manic fashion, stuffing them into the pockets of her uniform as quickly as possible. Upon witnessing this behavior, Kate shortly followed suit. Within minutes, the two cadets had refilled their spare handgun magazines, with one in the chamber, and their pockets sinking downward with bullets. Once stocked up, the duo moved onward.

"It's real quiet down here," Kate whispered to her friend, taking note of how much louder her everything had sounded earlier. Aside from their footsteps and breathing patterns, there was little other sound. It sent the quiet agent back on hyper-sensory alert. This much stillness was alien to her.

"Yeah," Stevie added, "too quiet." Obvious cliché aside, the dark-haired cadet's instincts agreed. Unless they had somehow gotten underground, it was odd that there would be no background noise in a lab facility as big as this one. And the closeness of the dark corridor wasn't helping the younger agent's nerves either. Nor was the distant rumbling.

"Wait, rumbling?" Stevie thought as she looked to the floor beneath her.

"You feel it too?" Kate's voice broke the younger agent's concentration. Stevie turned to find her partner crouched to the floor, holding her balance while one hand felt the tile in front of her. The shockwaves pulsing through the floor could give her an idea of what was causing the ground to shake under their feet. "Something's moving," she warned, "… A lot of big somethings."

"How big? And where are they?" Stevie asked, backing up nervously. The rumbling was getting stronger. The dark-haired cadet's hand went to her handgun, if only for a feeling of security.

Kate focused her attention back to the ground. She sat still for two seconds before her eyes widened in shock. "They're coming toward us!" she warned, jumping to her feet and pulling her gun. "Get ready!"

The duo jolted to attention, eyes focused and guns aimed down the hallway. The rumbling grew fiercer and fiercer. As sweat began to form on the cadets' palms, the source became clear. As quick as the wind, a mass of Hunters flooded out of the darkness. The trainees' eyes grew wide.

"Shit!" Kate squeaked under her breath.

"Run!" Stevie shouted.

Both girls turned tail and ran as fast as adrenaline would allow. There were far too many Hunters to fight head-on; they would be trampled to death just as the Hunters struck. There was no choice but to flee. Even a door would be no match for the horde.

In spite of fast footfalls and her own pulse, Kate found her thoughts. "Gotta get rid of them!" she thought quickly, "where do we go!" Glancing up ahead, she saw a steel bulkhead beginning to inch downward. As she and Stevie got closer, the bulkhead sped up and slid down faster. It was their only way out.  
"C'mon!" Stevie encouraged as she got closer, "Almost there!"

The cadets saved their breath as they got closer to the closing bulkhead. If they were lucky—

"No no no no! Don't-!" Kate thought rapidly, only to have the remaining bulkhead hit the ground, forcing the duo to skid to a halt in front of it. "Dammit!" she cursed. "There's no way I can hack it in time!"

"Then grab your gun and start shooting!" Stevie ordered as she aimed into the oncoming crowd. "These bitches of sons aren't slowin' down!"

The agents-in-training began firing upon the Hunters. Few went down at first, only to be killed underfoot by their brethren. "Aim for their faces! Blind firing isn't helping!" Stevie advised as she loaded a fresh clip into her gun.

The firefight continued. Within seconds, clips were depleted and ejected from their homes, only to be replaced by another. Bullet casings fell to the ground like raindrops, whereas the Hunter bodies became a wall of scaly flesh, piling up as they fell.

" Damn! These guys are endless!" Kate commented, "I'm running low on clips! Any ideas!" When she received no answer, the older cadet turned to her friend. "Stevie?" Her friend didn't respond. The dark-haired cadet's blue eyes stared at the mob of Hunters, unblinking. "Stevie, stay with me! This is a bad time to be catatonic!"

Stevie remained unresponsive for several seconds before speaking. "Hey Kate," the dark-haired cadet uttered, "Since we're probably going to die here, I got a confession to make."

"Make it fast!" Kate replied as she fed her gun a new clip, "I doubt we have much longer to say anything!"

"Remember that session where Ada made us stay up for nighttime surveillance training?" Stevie shouted over the gunfire.

"Yeah, the morning after was terrible!"

"After we did that I went to the kitchens and ate the leftover sandwich you bought back from our last day in town! Sorry!"

Kate thought about what her partner said, and her eyes widened once she realized what those words meant. "Wait a minute, you're the one who ate my extra Philly Cheesesteak? I was saving that for after training!"

"How was I supposed to remember that sandwich was yours? I was sleep-deprived!" Stevie argued as a Hunter fell at her feet in death, "And I'm sorry!"

"Apology accepted!" Kate replied as her hand reached for a new clip, but felt nothing. "I'm out of clips!" she announced, "No time to make more!"

Stevie's free hand flew to her pants pocket, searching for the familiarity of cold metal. "Me too!"

Right after Stevie spoke, a sinister revelation dawned upon them. This was it. The end. They were going to die here and there was nothing more to do. The biggest of the Hunters drew closer. The two agents closed their eyes and braced for the worst.

But it never came.

A light, high-pitched whistle broke the tension. The Hunters stopped in their tracks, totally transfixed on the sound of the whistle. A second whistle tone sounded, lower in pitch than the first. The remains of the swarm turned tail and charged away from the two agents, leaving them to stare in confusion as the Hunters thundered into the shadows. After a short period of stunned silence, the agents were able to speak.

"Wha- what was that!" Stevie shouted, "They just left us alive? How could-? That's not exactly—"

"In their nature?" Kate tried to finish.

" . . . I was gonna say 'weird', but that works as well," Stevie said as she checked her gun's empty magazine and slammed it shut, reminding herself to fill the empty clips ASAP. "Let's keep moving."

"Yeah," the glasses-wearing cadet agreed. "Never thought I'd be glad to have extrasensory reactions. My poor nerves feel like live wires right now."

Stevie nodded. "But you'll be okay later, right?" she asked. Kate nodded affirmative. "Good. Now that the bad stuff is over, we can both relax."

The two cadets resumed their journey down the corridor, climbing over dead Hunters as they moved forward. After five minutes, the ceiling grew higher, revealing windows that looked down into the corridor. The lights were on in the rooms on the other side, casting a tinted blue light into the corridor, as if the agents were underwater. "Peaceful," Kate thought as she walked alongside her comrade, staring up at the windows as the blue light washed over their faces. Each of the windows and their contents was uniform, save for one.

A dark blue figure stood in the second-to-last window. Kate watched the shadow closely. Judging from the figure's hourglass shape, the figure had to be female and looked to be wearing a lab coat. "Probably a dummy," the brunette agent thought as she glanced up the hallway. Finding the path ahead clear, the quiet girl turned her eyes upward again, only to have them widen in shock two seconds later. The 'dummy' had moved.

Kate froze. "Stop. Someone's watching from the window," she hissed a quick warning. Stevie halted in her tracks.

"Is it someone we know?" the younger cadet inquired. Kate shook her head. "Are they still there?" The quiet brunette checked the window and shook her head again. The 'dummy' had run out of sight. "Never mind. It doesn't matter now." Despite those words, the thought that someone was able to sneak up on them chilled the pair to the bone. Sensing the presence of others was one of the lessons that Ada had drilled into them from the start. Whoever had been watching had an advantage. "Let's just keep moving, alright?" With reassurance, the two agents resumed their trek down the shadowy hall.

"Oh, by the way, if both of us somehow manage get out of here alive, you owe me a Philly Cheesesteak," Kate added. Trivial as it was, the thought of a warm steak sandwich was a welcome distraction from their almost-death experience.

Stevie gave a short chuckle as her partner fell into step beside her. "Fine by me. I'd rather have a nice juicy burger if we manage to get out of this little nightmare."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: These author notes get long when I write them. I'll try to keep them shorter from now on. **

**Yes, it's been a while since I last posted something for this story. I blame lack of inspiration. Hopefully, it should get more exciting soon.**

**If I mess up regarding subject matter at the end, feel free to tell me how it really works so I can fix it later.**

**Yes, one of my newer stories got taken down. No, I am not putting it back up. I knew I was violating the guidelines on this site with that story. I'm not going to re-upload it and risk getting banned.**

**As of this post, I have ten full days before I leave for college. And it pains me to tell my readers this, but I won't be able to work on my stories as often as I would like when I start college. My updates might slip to once per month. I'm sorry to have to make you wait, but there isn't much I'm going to be able to do about it. But I promise to see this story through to the bitter end. I won't leave my readers hanging.**

**So much for making this AN short.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Non-canon characters own themselves, except for Delfredi. HE belongs to my co-writer, JediSpartan217.**

Conditions became worse as Stevie and Kate progressed though the darkened hallway. The originally cool temperature of the corridor had abruptly warmed, wrapping the agents with stifling heat, as if the sun itself was beating down on them. Despite their discomfort, the cadets pressed onward, searching for the source of the Hunters that nearly brought about their deaths. As the duo walked the sole path provided to them, they were certain that answers would eventually be found. But instead, another wall of crates rose to block their route. Like the last one, the barrier was impossible to cross.

"Looks like another dead end," Kate commented under her breath, "Can't get over this one." She glanced over at either side of the hall. The only door they had seen for several minutes was directly to their right, plainly marked 'Employee Washroom'. There was no way the pair could retrace their steps, thanks to a stupid bulkhead closing on them. The thought of their current situation made the fair-haired brunette clench her teeth and knit her brows in frustration. Nothing added up. The Hunters had to have gone somewhere, but the building hadn't offered any twists, turns or other Hunter-sized escape routes. "Might as well admit it: We're stuck," she relinquished, albeit uneasily.

Stevie nodded and hummed in agreement, then dove into her back pocket. Her partner looked at her expectantly, only to blink in confusion as she pulled out a familiar red beret. Kate raised an eyebrow. "You brought _that_ old thing with you?" the glasses-wearing agent asked.

The dark-haired cadet shrugged as she positioned the beret on her head, not caring that the color clashed with the blue-gray-black of the BSAA uniform. "Of course I did! It's my lucky charm now," Stevie explained. The look on her partner's face didn't change. "What? I practically snagged this from under Krauser's boots mid-battle! If you had done it, you'd be proud of it too."

Kate sighed and shook her head, allowing her ponytail to swing side-to-side. Training together made the duo thicker than thieves, but sometimes it still was better NOT to question each other's behavior. This was one of those times. "Anyway," the older cadet started, "How do we figure out where to go next? There's only one route open to us." She gestured to the restroom door. "And it's probably a dead end."

Stevie gazed up at the stack of crates, searching for a weak spot. There was no chance both of them could clear a path through the crates, but a little morale boost would be welcome at this point. The younger cadet's eyes stopped at a gap between the crates. It wasn't big enough the climb through, but large enough to grant them a view. "I wonder . . ." she muttered to herself before smirking at her partner.

Kate blinked in shock, realizing her partner had a plan. "Stevie, what are you thinking?" she asked nervously. The next thing she knew, a pair of arms grabbed her by the legs and lifted her into the air. "Mother-!" the older agent yelped as she tried to steady herself, "What are you-?"

"There's a gap between two of the crates! Can you see through it?" Stevie hollered as she held her partner in the air by the legs, "I have a hunch this door might lead us somewhere!"

Kate ignored her prior irritation and peered into the hole, past the crates. "I think I see a door just beyond. Looks like another bathroom."

Stevie's face lit up. "Then this is our detour!" she chirped before releasing Kate from her grasp. The older cadet fell to the ground and landed on her feet, taking a few seconds to absorb the recoil that wormed its way up her bones.

"You could have warned me, ya know," Kate told her partner, shooting an annoyed look her way as she brushed 'dust' off her uniform.

The younger cadet shrugged. "Eh, Coulda, woulda, shoulda," Stevie replied, "C'mon. I think I found our way around."

The agents entered the door to their right. True to the sign, the room was originally a bathroom for employees, complete with stalls containing toilets and urinals on one side, with a row of sinks and a large mirror lining the other wall. The place was wide, as if somebody had stretched the room to fit both halves. A wall of black tiles obscured half of the area on the side with the sinks. The rest was cloaked in darkness. Apparently the power was out here too.

"Yikes, it's pitch black in here," Stevie commented as she and Kate turned on their flashlights, "Let's see if we can't light this place up a little. Start looking for a power box."

"Agreed. I'll take this side."

The two agents split up, each taking half of the bathroom. Stevie took the half with the toilet stalls, whereas Kate decided to begin searching among the sinks. The sinks didn't take long to explore. Eventually, the older cadet came upon the door that would lead them out of the room. But that wasn't important now, searching for a fuse box was. Coming up with nothing else, the older cadet turned toward the wall of black tile. Following the wall to the edge, she peered around to examine the inside.

The shine of stainless steel shower heads blinked down at the cadet as her flashlight shone over the appliances. Apparently the hidden area was purposed as a chemical shower designed to hold several people at a time. Fitting for an Umbrella facility. Kate swept her flashlight through the area, stopping when the beam fell on a potted plant. "What the . . . what is this doing here?" the older cadet thought as she entered the showers to take a closer look. The plant is question sat in a cracked terracotta pot, and upon closer inspection, it was identified as one of the Green Herbs native to the area around Raccoon City. What was it doing here in Europe of all places? Kate picked up the plant carefully, finding that there was a single sheet of paper under the pot. The paper proved to be a written note, presumably left by the same person that had placed the Herb.

While her partner had been conducting her search, Stevie moved quickly in checking the toilet stalls, finding nothing important. The younger cadet stood near the end of the row, preparing to check another stall. The light of her torch bounced against the wall, and she squinted for a few seconds at what appeared to be a misplaced cabinet before registering what she had found. "Bingo!" she thought as she walked up to the red-painted fuse box. The dark-haired agent pulled a smaller flashlight from her pocket and turned it on, holding it with her teeth as she pried the rusty fuse box open. After a few hearty tugs, the door swung open, scattering tiny flakes of rust on the tiled floor. Stevie grinned at the array of wires and switches in front of her. "Found it!" the excitable cadet alerted her teammate as her eyes scanned the switches. There were no labels to distinguish which switch powered what, so the agent would have to make do with activating all of them. Stevie counted down inside her head, then in one decisive movement, brought her hand down on the switches.

Kate had started to read the note, then forced to squint as the lights came on and brightened the entire room. But the bigger surprise was a moist tickle on her exposed skin. "What the-" she said, voice echoing off the tile despite its soft volume. The older cadet blinked upwards to find the showers had been left on, and had begun gently raining mist as the power was activated. "Huh, that's odd," she thought as she held a gloved hand in front of her, taking notice of the mist's tinted gold color, "It's not acidic. But why is this mist yellow?"

"Hey Kate!" Stevie shouted, bringing the older cadet's eyes upward. "What's going on in there? Are you spacing out again?"

It took a few seconds for the fair-haired agent to focus and loosen her tongue; judging from the buzzing sensation in her mouth, it had gone numb. "I'm totally fine! Some idiot must have—!" The muscles in Kate's throat constricted, cutting off her sentence as she gasped for air. With each sharp breath, her lungs heaved and burned as if her chest was on fire. Kate's gasps for air transformed into a violent coughing fit, rendering it impossible for her to breathe.

"Kate!" Stevie shouted, alarmed as she started to run towards the showers, only to turn around and reverse the switches. The room was plunged into darkness again as the showers shut off. Nevertheless, the dark-haired agent navigated the room, guided by the sound of her friend's wheezes, and pulled her partner out of the showers. "Are you all right?" the younger agent asked, her voice full of anxiety as she guided both of them to kneel on the floor.

The older cadet took some time to take in air before her breathing patterns returned to normal. "I don't know, but it's not as bad now," she said, speaking softly as not to aggravate her throat even more. "I found this," she added, holding up the potted herb and paper for her friend to see.

Stevie blinked in surprise. "What's that?" she asked, pointing at the note in her partner's hand.

Kate shrugged. "Don't know. I only started reading it before the showers came on," she said, "Somebody must have left it here."

"What's it say?"

Kate adjusted her glasses and began to read, "'I've set up road blocks in specific areas as Delfredi requested. These roadblocks will lead those pesky BSAA agents into traps that I have prepared for them. They will not realize they have fallen for them until it is too late!'" She set the note on the floor next to the green herb. "That's it. There's no signature."

"That's nice. They certainly got the 'too late' part right. It must have been his assistant," Stevie commented, her tone not lacking in sarcasm. "Now how about we use this herb to get whatever shit you inhaled out of you?" the younger cadet suggested with a serious look in her eye as she grabbed a hold of the plant.

Kate shook her head at her partner. "Herbs don't work that way, remember?" the fair-haired agent reminded her.

"Ah, right. Only works on external injuries and stuff," Stevie recalled with a great amount of sarcasm, silently cursing the rules of the universe that were associated with Resident Evil. "Nevertheless, we better take it with us."

"Agreed," Kate said as she quickly plucked the leaves off the green herb and stood to her feet, "We have to keep going."

"Whoa, whoa. Hold up, buddy!" Stevie tried to object as she jumped up and maneuvered into her friend's path, "You just inhaled bad stuff! Don't you want to wait and get it out first?!"

Kate stopped and looked her partner dead in the eye. "Chris, Jill, and Mattie are waiting for us," the older cadet reasoned, "and these mysteries aren't going to solve themselves." She began walking again, this time towards the door that would lead them out. "We can monitor my status while we're walking. If it gets bad, then we can panic."

Stevie sighed. Kate could be stubborn at times, but she knew how to compromise. "Fair enough. Let's get moving."

* * *

Jill's flashlight swept the room, searching for BOWs as she peered into one of the facility's many laboratories. After her struggle with the zombie version of her old STARS comrade, Forrest, Delfredi had allowed her to continue through the building, no doubt leading her to another challenge. There had been no sign of Stevie and Kate being here, so the older agent took it to mean that she and the cadets were still a ways apart. Apparently Delfredi wanted them to take different routes through the facility so the other group couldn't interrupt his little 'Playtimes'. He may have been a complete madman from Jill's perspective, but he was clever nonetheless.

She stepped into the room. A sharp rustle under her feet drew her attention to the floor, finding several aged, crumpled papers, presumably the notes that the Umbrella scientists left behind. Jill raised her flashlight. The documents had been scattered about the room like autumn leaves. The agent picked one up. Whatever had been on it was unreadable; the ink had faded away and formed illegible words. Useless.

Jill let the paper fall. She continued to sweep the room as she walked forward, listening closely as sheets of research crunched under her boots. The flashlight fell on another stray piece of paper, sitting on one of the tables that lined the room. This one was not crumpled up like the others. This document was clean, legible, and recently written from the looks of it.

Jill walked over to the table, set her flashlight down, picked up the paper, and began to read:

"The genetically modified Hunters are a success! All specimens are responsive to sound frequencies, thus making them easy to control. The perfect guard animals!

However, Licker behavior is much more unpredictable. Certain patterns of noise (i.e., Music) will cause them to fall asleep. Noises made by humans will cause them to attack as usual. Delfredi and I are holding them in an antechamber for now until we figure out what to do with them."

"This explains the strange behavior of the Hunters that must have gotten outside," Jill thought as she set the paper down, "They've found a way to control them. And Delfredi is no longer the only enemy I have to worry about. Lucky me. But why do they have Lickers here? Still, nice to know that music soothes those savage beasts. I'd better watch out." Jill memorized the details of the note before picking up her flashlight and moving onward. She found the exit to the lab quickly, shoving the door open as she exited the room, only to be greeted by another glaring white hallway. The BSAA agent braced her eyes as they adjusted to the brightness. "I'd better not go blind because of this," she thought, scowling at the fluorescent lights above her head, "I'll still need my eyes when I write a report about this entire incident."

Jill glanced up both sides of the hallway. A wall of crates blocked the hall to the left; the only way she could go was to the right, undoubtedly the route Delfredi wanted her to take. The agent wasn't in much of a position to disobey, so she began the trek down the corridor to the right. She could see two doors at the end of the hall, dark against the sterile walls of the facility: one at the very end, with the other to its left. Jill tried the leftmost door first, only to feel resistance from the other side. "Blocked," Jill thought as she turned to her only other option. The second door gave easily. Moving quickly, the female agent cracked the door ajar and slipped through the opening, anticipating whatever Delfredi intended to throw at her next.

The room in front of her was dark, and a wide window revealed another stark white room, but a swarm of pink, muscle-bound Lickers rested inside. Jill remained still as the monsters hissed and snapped at each other, taking no notice of the visitor at all. The "window" was mostly likely a two-way mirror, Jill deduced as she watched the Lickers. A single desk rested at the edge of the window, and on top of it rested a voice recorder, a book of sheet music, and a piano keyboard. Jill moved closer to the window and picked up the voice recorder. Seeing as there was a tape already inside, the female agent pressed 'Play' and listened.

"If you are listening to this, then I congratulate you for making it to the second round of 'Playtime' Agent Valentine," Delfredi's warped voice spoke, "The door in front of you will lead you closer to the truth. The key you need is in the jar before you, but you must be brave enough to get it and get out before my pets rip you to shreds. They're quite hungry and I believe I've run out of their favorite food: human flesh. No cheating."

Jill cursed at Delfredi's sadistic warning and gazed into the white room. Aside from a security camera positioned on the far wall, a table sat in the center of the space, and true to Delfredi's words, a key sat on the table, covered by a clear bell jar. Apparently she'd have to go into the room with the Lickers in order to escape. But how could she do it without being torn into pieces?

Her memory went back to the note she had picked up. The Lickers reacted to music by falling asleep, she remembered as her eyes fell to the keyboard. If she played the piano, then she would have a chance to get out safely.

Jill turned on the keyboard and opened the song booklet, taking notice of the first song she turned to. _Moonlight Sonata_, Jill remembered, having played it in the Arklay Mansion and the Spencer Estate. "Must be a favorite among Umbrella workers," she thought as she positioned her fingers on the keyboard.

Jill began playing the song she knew so well. She had had no opinion of it when she learned it as a little girl, but the Mansion incident had changed it for her forever. Her memories of the mansion were ingrained in every note, coming back to haunt her as her fingers danced across the keys. The long, winding hallways, the garden shed where she encountered the mutated Lisa Trevor, and the labs below where Wesker showed his true colors. Many of Jill's comrades had died that night, and she still believed it was a wonder that she and the others survived. Most importantly, the events of the mansion broke her faith in humanity. She mistrusted anyone who worked with Umbrella, and no one believed her when she tried to warn them about the T-virus. And look at what happened after that. Raccoon City was overrun and the government managed to cover up everything. Hopeless. The people just didn't want to believe.

Jill looked up from the keyboard, playing the rest by memory as she watched the Lickers settle down into a state resembling sleep. Their breathing patterns had slowed down, and aside from a few small muscle twitches, they were completely still. A small smile crossed the BSAA agent's face; the observations on the note had been true.

She leaned up from the keyboard. Now she had to get across the room with waking the Lickers. Jill found the door leading into the room and picked the lock with ease. She opened the door slowly, lest a stray noise awaken the Lickers.

Tiptoeing around the fleshy bodies at her feet, Jill found herself at the table. She lifted the bell jar off the table with one hand, quickly snatching the key before setting the glass covering down again.

As she looked toward her next target, thoughts of Raccoon city began to arise. The buildings had been fully infested with Lickers, and the streets weren't safe either. No matter where she ran, the BOW Nemesis pursued her. Even when she thought she was safe, the monster would appear out of nowhere, ready to murder her. It had been the one of the longest nights of her life, not counting the days she spent unconscious and defenseless in a chapel, waiting for Carlos to return with the T-virus antidote. Even now it was difficult for Jill to completely relax whenever she visited a major city; the zombies that filled the streets of Raccoon still haunted her nightmares.

A soft tap of claws against the floor returned Jill to reality. The Lickers still surrounded her, albeit asleep. The agent dashed her thoughts aside, focusing on the door in front of her. With her determination intact, Jill stepped around the remaining Lickers as quickly as possible, reaching the door in less than a minute. She tried the key and unlocked the door, passing through the portal as quickly as possible and shutting it behind her to secure the Lickers inside.

Jill barely had time to collect herself before the voice of Delfredi intervened.

"Well done Agent Valentine," Delfredi's voice spoke from one of the intercoms, "It seems you were brave enough to walk among my pets after all. Has my 'Playtime' given you any insights so far?"

"Nothing I don't already know," she replied carefully. Humans were willing to blind themselves and others from the truth, she realized, but Jill didn't say it out loud. Telling Delfredi what he wanted to hear would only disadvantage her later.

Delfredi gave a small laugh. "A pity, but this is only the first step to realizing the truth."

Jill's patience reached its limit. "What If I don't want your truth?!" she spat angrily, "I've already faced enough of my memories. What more do you want?"

"You wish to defy me?" Delfredi questioned. "I know you won't give in easily. Finish my 'Playtime', and you shall see your comrades again."

"Good to know," Jill muttered under her breath. Judging from the security camera she had seen earlier, Delfredi was definitely watching her progress, possibly waiting for her to trip up. "So what now?"

Delfredi chuckled. "I have a few more surprises for you yet." A telltale 'click' informed Jill that the door had been unlocked. "I wish you the best of luck."

Jill passed through the door cautiously, considering what she had said to her enemy. Sure, she wished to blind herself from the truth voluntarily, but her past experience reminded her not to ignore Delfredi's words. Even with the advice, facing her own memories was more difficult than Jill ever anticipated. But nevertheless, she continued.

* * *

The two cadets continued through the corridors of the facility. They had left the bathroom with little trouble, pausing only to allow Stevie to reactivate everything sans mystery gas and provide them with a lit path further into the facility. Yet within thirty minutes of leaving the bathroom, the hall became darker as the two cadets moved into another part of the building; apparently the power lines connected to the fuse box didn't extend here. There were some lights activated, but were placed farther apart from each other, leaving shadows behind and in front of them.

Stevie took point, straining her ears for another possible attack as she stared ahead, handgun at the ready. Kate covered her friend's back, watching for anything that would try to sneak up on them, all while keeping a tab on her personal health. Nothing had physically changed since she was caught in the mystery gas, but she could swear something was watching them. It wasn't the shadowy person from earlier, the older cadet reckoned, because whatever it was made her spine run cold. Nevertheless, she told herself it was just nerves. Then the voices started talking.

At first they were soft whispers, easily mistaken for gusts of wind. Then they began growing louder, muttering nonsensical words. Kate swallowed her fear and checked behind her, searching the darkness with her flashlight; nobody was following them. "Stevie, do you hear what I'm hearing?" she asked her partner nervously.

The dark-haired cadet paused. "No," she said in a caution-laced voice, "Should I?"

Kate placed one hand over her handgun in an attempt to ease her nerves. "I think someone's close. I heard voices," she replied.

"Is it anyone we're looking for?" Stevie questioned. Kate shook her head. "…I don't hear anything. It's been utterly silent since we came down here."

"Are you certain?" The swift question caught Stevie off guard, as did the anxiety in the older cadet's voice. Something was wrong.

"Kate, are you okay?" Stevie asked, holding her gun ready in case of the worst, "You're kinda freaking me out here. What's going on?"

The older agent's eyes darted about fearfully, searching for the source of her terror. "I hear voices," she said, "Someone's here."

Stevie quickly checked the immediate area with her eyes. "I told you: I don't hear anyone. It's all you," she spoke, and then the dark-haired cadet hit realization. "Oh god, you're hallucinating." Stevie holstered her gun and grabbed her partner by the shoulders. "Look at me. I'm right here, buddy. Who is it? What do you hear?"

Kate strained her ears, focusing on the whispers. One by one, the voices disappeared, leaving one clearer than the rest. It was a voice the older cadet knew very well, even after many years. The memories rushed back to her, and she was once again the timid girl back in the hotel, hiding under a table to avoid being caught. But there was nowhere to hide now.

"Thought you were rid of me, were you?" the single voice spoke in a lazy French accent, as clearly as if its holder was right next to Kate's ear. "Too bad you cannot escape as easily this time."

The older cadet froze, wide-eyed in terror. "Oh god . . ." she whimpered before staring back at her partner's eyes. "It's her. It's Excella."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:Man, it feels like forever since I updated! This chapter was surprisingly hard to write, even though I wrote most of the dialogue ahead of time. Then again, the story did go through some plot changes long after I wrote those scripts. **

** College is tiring. Even though right now the year just started, there's been so much going on that I have had very little time to finish this chapter. Plus a whole lot of other things appeared (including a potential Uncharted 3 story) and distracted me from writing this as well. I'm still getting used to everything, so I can't say exactly when I'll be able to update again. Good news is, I'm enjoying college, and I've switched over to new software which will allow me to write/edit my fanfics anywhere. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Non-Canon characters own themselves, except for Delfredi and his lovely assistant. XD Those two were created by JediSpartan217.**

* * *

Stevie stared at her partner in disbelief. There were two things on the younger cadet's mind: the fact that her partner still feared the woman who had chased after her four years ago, and one very important question: Why in the world did Excella decide now would be a good time to haunt her partner?

"...Kate? Excella's gone, remember?" Stevie spoke, in an attempt to ease her anxious partner's mind. "She's not supposed to exist here."

The older agent nodded as her shoulders hunched upward, protecting her neck as she looked around, searching for the source of her fear. "Yeah, but I swear her eyes are fixed on the back of my neck. I can feel it," she whispered, "And we never did find out where she went after that battle on the roof four years ago."

Stevie raised a puzzled eyebrow. "Still going on about that?" she asked. Kate nodded again. "Last time I checked, nobody but you was able to vouch for what happened while you were up there. And keep in mind that Mattie DID whack our heads into concrete a couple times while we were on the roof."

" Are you calling me a liar? Because I didn't give myself those injuries on my feet."

"No," Stevie finished, grabbing her partner by the hand and pulling her forward, "Let's go. I'd like to get out of here as soon as humanly possible."

"What should we do about Excella?"

"Just . . . tell her to shut up. Now let's get out of here." Stevie guided her partner through the remainder of the corridor, only to be met by a sealed door at the end, held shut by a large piece of wood. "Help me with this," she instructed. Once the beam of wood was out of the way, the agents emerged into a brightly lit hall. One door was situated to their immediate left, while another one sat at the far end of the hall near a pile of crates. The duo tried the double doors first, finding no resistance as they passed through.

However, the group stopped into their tracks when they saw what lay in the room ahead of them. "Lickers," Stevie commented sarcastically, "Really?!" Then she began shouting towards the ceiling. "Hey Delfredi! Do you have any shred of originality at all?! Or do you just take ideas from previous games?"

Kate peered into the room beyond the glass, observing the creatures closely before noticing a common denominator: "They're all asleep."

Stevie moved to stand next to her partner. "Do we have to go this way?" she asked, "I know there was another door back there. Why don't we try that one?"

"Right. You go try the other door," Kate consented, "I'll stay here and keep an eye on these monsters."

Stevie nodded and exited the room, leaving Kate with a pane of soundproof glass between her and the Lickers.

The room was quiet, save for the sounds the Lickers made as they slept. "I wonder if they snore?" Kate thought to herself as she gazed through the window, watching their bodies rise and fall with each breath. It would have been peaceful if not for the fact that Lickers were lethal killers with a taste for human flesh.

"BOO!"

Kate let out a shrill shriek, jumped out of her skin, pulled out her handgun, and bracing against the window as she whirled around to face the prankster. Her eyes fixed on the closed door for several seconds, breathing sharply as adrenaline pumped through her bloodstream before realizing that no one was in the room with her. Kate checked the status of the Lickers; still asleep. The room had no intercom speaker, so that left one last suspect. "You're still here?!" the skittish cadet called out to the air.

Excella's disembodied voice giggled back at her. "You poor thing. You should have realized it by now: I'm always with you."

Kate bit her tongue, suppressing a shiver as she struggled to find the words she wanted to say. Finally, she summed up the courage to voice a simple response. "You're not supposed to exist. Get out of my head," she replied, a move that would have been brave if not for a slight quiver in her hands that failed to cloak her anxiety.

Excella chuckled. "It's been fun . . . I'll be back sooner than you think," she spoke one last time before leaving the agent alone with her thoughts.

Kate lowered her handgun and looked around the room. Aside from the Lickers in the other room, no one was around but her. Once verifying this fact, she allowed some of her anxiety to subside. A few short seconds later, Stevie came through the door and re-entered the room. "What's happened?" the younger cadet asked, "I heard you shout from the other end of the hall. It scared the crap out of me."

"It's nothing," she sighed, running one hand through her hair as she slowly calmed down, "Excella was being a total bitch and decided to scare me."

"Tell me about it. When is she not a total bitch?"

Kate smiled at the snide comment. "Any luck with the other door?"

"Negativo, buddy," Stevie replied, leaning against the door behind her, "The security on that door was tighter than my favorite pair of leather pants. We're not getting in there."

Kate turned back to the window. "Then it looks like we have to go through here," she said softly, her eyes scanning over the Licker-covered floor.

Stevie gave one look and promptly tossed her two cents in. "Uh, no thank you. I'd rather try to move that pile of crates we saw earlier. At least those won't eat us."

"Right now is our best chance," Kate explained, "The Lickers are asleep, and I can see a door on the other side of this room."

Stevie stared into the Licker room, gauging the distance between the room she and her partner were standing in and the door on the other side. "Okay, but it better be unlocked, and those monsters better not get too friendly."

The two agents moved closer to the door that led into the Licker room. "Alrighty, from now until we get out of here, we have to stay quiet," Kate whispered a quick briefing as she put one hand on the doorknob, " Don't want to wake these guys up. Watch your step." Stevie nodded in understanding. Kate opened the door and quickly filed in behind her partner.

Tiptoeing through the Lickers was no easy feat. The agents moved carefully, making an effort not to step on the monsters' limbs in the process. Brushing up against the creatures' flesh was not an option either; the women did not want to take any chances. Clear floor space was at a minimum, making it that much harder for the agents to find places to put their feet. Nevertheless, they crossed the room without making any noise. Stevie tested the door, feeling the handle give way. Unlocked. The younger cadet signaled her partner with her eyes. Kate nodded, and both cadets passed through swiftly and silently.

They emerged into another hallway. Like some others, it was sparsely lit by overhead lights, but rows of doors sat on both sides of the hall. Once assured that the door was securely closed, the two agents let out heavy sighs of relief. The tension was over. Kate made the mouth-zip signal and gestured toward the Licker room, warning her partner not to make any noise until they were far away from the Lickers. Stevie nodded and gestured towards the hall that stretched out before them. In silent agreement, the duo began to walk again. When they had made it a fair ways up the hall, they began talking again.

"That was nerve wracking," Stevie whispered her complaint, "Now Delfredi's really being an asshat."

"Is it weird that I still think Lickers would make good pets once you train them not to eat you?" the older cadet added.

The ground jerked violently under Kate's feet before Stevie could reply. The older cadet's vision blurred as her body pitched forward. "Kate!" Stevie yelped, making a grab for a flailing limb. Kate wobbled out of her partner's reach on unsteady feet, and within seconds, landed face down on the unforgiving floor with a dull thud, barely noticing a sharp wince from Stevie.

The older agent groaned as she pushed herself up, only to be greeted by a slow clapping inside her head. "Brava…" Excella mocked, "You have a penchant for ineptitude, did you know that? Maybe that's why you are so blind to your faults."

"I know my own weaknesses. Just leave me alone," Kate sighed; her morale was beginning to crumble under the villainess' insulting presence.

Stevie walked over to where her comrade lay. "Still falling down on the job, buddy? What happened to all that balance training?" the younger cadet commented sarcastically.

Kate replayed the fall in her mind, searching for the cause. Randomly losing her balance and falling was nothing new, but the habit saw a sharp downturn since she started training with the Organization. "I have no idea," she explained, "I just got really dizzy all of a sudden and boom, I'm down here."

The dark-haired agent gave a short laugh. "I can't take you anywhere, can I?" she joked as she helped her friend to her feet.

"Not while I'm this un-coordinated." A sharp hissing interrupted Kate's reply, forcing her back to reality. "What the hell was that?"

Stevie looked back up the hall, eye widening as they fell upon the open door directly behind them. "We got trouble," the dark-haired cadet murmured.

One of the Lickers had woken up and somehow gotten out of the room, judging by the door that now hung slightly ajar, and was now crawling around the floor near the end of the hall, sniffing for food. "Did you close the door properly?" Stevie whispered nervously.

"I did! How did that thing get out?" Kate hissed back.

"Don't ask me!"

The agents observed the Licker as it crawled onto the wall, then attached itself to the ceiling. "It's looking for us. If we make any noise, we're toast," Kate whispered calmly before glancing farther down the corridor, away from the stray Licker. "We don't know how much farther this place goes. We better hide."

Stevie nodded and gestured to the door on their immediate left. The agents moved fast; luckily, the first door they picked was unlocked, and as soon as they were inside they shut the door behind them quickly and silently.

"Okay," Stevie whispered with one ear pressed to the door, bracing it with her body, "We'll wait in here until it leaves."

Kate turned and began to scan the room they had entered, only to have her blood ran cold. "Uh, Stevie," she warned, "We're not alone."

The younger cadet whirled around. A blonde woman in a short lab coat stood in front of them, pointing a handgun right in their direction. Her hair was tied in a bun at the back of her head, and a short dress peeked out from under the lab coat, but what caught the agents' eyes was a distinct red and white pattern on the coat's upper sleeve. Stevie's hand dived for her own handgun.

"Don't even think about trying it," the woman warned, adjusting her aim so the gun pointed directly at Kate, "I have the upper hand." Stevie glared at the woman, but nonetheless drew her hand away from her weapon.

"Thought you could hide in here, did you?" the woman spoke in a bitter tone, "I expected better from the BSAA, but it's obvious that you are nothing more than mere cadets. It's almost if you haven't trained with them at all. Let me guess, running out of ammo?" Stevie and Kate traded uneasy expressions. How the heck did this chick know about their Hunter predicament? "I thought as much."

The older agent wracked her brain for a suitable response to the woman's claims, coming up with nothing. Her mind had frozen like a deer in the headlights. "Why don't you put the rest of those bullets to good use?" Excella coaxed, her voice sickly sweet and thick as honey in Kate's mind, "Your cover's about to be blown, so go ahead; grant yourself a painless death before the monsters find you first."

The older agent shook her head in nervous defiance as the mental images played in her head. "No. That's not going to happen," she swore under her breath as she tried to focus on the woman in front of her, "Not while my friends need me."

Excella snickered, bringing the skittish agent to the defensive again. "We'll see about that..."

"Just leave me alone," Kate pleaded shakily, feeling herself get closer to an anxiety attack every second, "Go away . . . "

The woman's eyes widened, listening to the older agent speak before grabbing hold of a nearby clipboard. "Looks like the virus is working… at least on one of you pests," she said as she began writing on the clipboard with extreme vigor, "Not exactly what I had in mind…" She stopped writing long enough for an excited smile to cross her face. "But that means more research to do once the virus spreads!"

"It spreads?!" Stevie exclaimed, momentarily forgetting about the Licker outside.

The woman set down her clipboard, picking up a breathalyzer-like device to replace it. "Breathe into this," she ordered, shoving it into Kate's hands. "I need to know how much you've inhaled to determine the level of effects."

The fair-haired brunette glanced at Stevie for a few seconds, then shrugged and exhaled into the device. The woman took the machine away from her, scowling as she read the results on the side. "Drat," she spoke, "Only a small dosage. Not enough to prompt other side effects."

"What 'other side effects'?" Kate asked with a note of despair in her voice, "I already feel like I'm going to lose my mind; what's worse than hearing voices?"

"Aww," Excella cooed, sending a shiver running up the older cadet's spine, "Don't be such a baby."

The woman narrowed her eyes at the two agents. "A dose that small should wear off in time. If it had been larger, though," she started, only for her voice to turn bubbly again, "you'd be hallucinating even worse and eventually turn into a Tyrant! That would make my notes SO much more exciting!"

The duo shirked backwards at the girlish enthusiasm. "You're just sick!" Stevie commented before listening at the door again. "I think the Licker's gone," she told Kate, "Let's get out of here. With our luck we'll run right into Delfredi himself."

"I'm afraid Dr. Delfredi doesn't want to see visitors yet," the woman spoke, pointing her pistol at them once again as they looked towards her, "You still have tests to finish, after all."

Stevie and Kate shared a glance and came to an instant agreement: this lady was way too creepy to be reasoned with. "O-kay," Stevie responded, not knowing what else to say as her hand inched towards the doorknob, "We'll be going now."

The younger cadet's hand barely touched the doorknob before the woman spoke again. "You don't get to leave!" she warned them, "At least, not yet." Stevie and Kate looked back to face her. "Since you've given me good data, I'll let you go for now. But the next time we meet might not be so lucky for either of you."

A radio unit that sat on the woman's belt clicked on. "That'll do, Veronica," Delfredi spoke, "Return to the safe room."

"Right away, sir!" the woman, now known to the two agents as Veronica, responded, still pointing her gun at the two women, "But first I need to see a few rats return to the maze."

"So she's the one helping Delfredi," Stevie thought as she and her partner assessed the woman's threat; if she could hold a gun without her hands shaking, she wasn't bluffing. "Duly noted," Stevie responded before turning to her partner. "C'mon. That Delfredi guy said he had more 'Playtimes' waiting for us."

The two agents exited the room quietly, leaving the woman alone in the laboratory. Veronica smiled as she stowed her handgun away. "That wasn't too difficult," she said brightly, picking up the clipboard to review the data she collected, "Dr. Delfredi should be very happy with this new information!" Veronica giggled to herself in glee, gathering the rest of the notes she needed before returning to her boss.

* * *

After her trial with the Lickers, Jill quickly retreated into one of the nearby labs and locked the door behind her, hoping to find more files. Instead, she found a computer that was recently used, judging by the fact that somebody forgot to sign out.

Jill began checking the files on the computer. Many of the documents were protected and required a password to get in. "Shit, now what do I do?" the agent thought as she stared at the screen, trying to figure out how to get in. The former STARS member was computer literate enough to pass the BSAA's tests, but she wasn't a complete brainiac like the guys back at HQ. She'd have to guess the password and hope there wasn't a security system attached to it.

Jill's fingers began pecking at the keys. "Let's try 'Umbrella'," she spoke under her breath, "This is one of their facilities." The password 'Umbrella' yielded no results, neither did 'Spencer', 'Tyrant', or 'Raccoon City'. Granted, that last idea was a long shot, but Jill was running out of ideas. "I wonder . . . " she let the thought trail as she entered a potential password for the fifth time. If it wasn't related to the old Umbrella, then Jill would be on to something. She slowly typed 'Delfredi' into the terminal and hit 'Enter'. The unlocked files greeted her, sitting in rows like presents under a Christmas tree. Jill allowed a short-lived beam to cross her face. "Bingo."

After that moment, it was back to business. Lacking the necessary hacking skills to send the documents straight to HQ, Jill preferred to upload the files onto a portable USB stick for Quint to analyze at a later time.

Jill plugged the USB stick in. As the files began copying onto the new piece of hardware, Jill did some snooping into the terminal's email archives. The computer brought up several emails over the past month. Jackpot. Jill scanned the line of messages in the Sent box first. They had all been written by the same person; unfortunately, Jill could not see who the messages were being sent too. Someone had taken precautions. The content of the messages appeared to be updates. Jill clicked on the most recently sent message, dated no more than an hour ago, judging by the time stamp. She began reading.

"From: Vsmithson

To: (REDACTED)

Everything is running smoothly. There have been little to no lapses in Delfredi's condition, but I'm watching him closely just in case. I've noticed that Delfredi is acting stranger, more distant since this operation started. I believe that the presence of Jill Valentine is causing him to act this way. But thankfully, he is staying in the Control room while I am in the field. I'm certain the dynamic duo that Jill brought with her have realized my presence. I will have to find better places to hide. For now, 'Delfredi' is dominant. All intruders are currently occupied by his 'Playtimes' , so I don't expect to run into any trouble while following orders."

Jill stepped away from the computer. "'Delfredi is dominant'? What is this person talking about?" she thought, "And why is Delfredi so interested in me, anyway? I don't know anyone with that name." The former STARS officer shook her head. "At least Delfredi has some sort of weakness. Now I need to know how to exploit it." With this knowledge, Jill shifted her focus and was able to pull up a basic floor plan of the facility on the computer with a few swift keystrokes. "Now, where the hell am I?"

* * *

The door at the end of the hall opened into a small, narrow stairwell. Being on the first floor, the agents had no choice but to go up. One flight of stairs later found them in front of another door. A quick test of the handle proved that this one was unlocked.

Beyond the door lay a shorter corridor, leading into another white room. A square-shaped ventilation shaft sat on the far wall, with a door in the wall to the right.

"There! I think that's our way out," Stevie spoke, rushing forward into the white room while Kate jogged behind her.

As Stevie passed into the room, a pane of glass slid down in the doorway, forcing Kate to stop in her tracks. A telltale 'click' of a lock confirmed the agents' fears; They were separated.

"Kate!" Stevie panicked, running back towards the wall of glass, "Are you okay?!"

The older cadet's eyes bounced around the space, doing her best to stay calm. She nodded quickly to Stevie, then ran the other end of the corridor and tried the door she and her friend had entered through. Kate grasped the doorknob violently, only to find that that door had locked behind them as well. "I can't find a way out!" she reported to her partner, "What about your side?"

Stevie glanced about the chamber. Aside from the ventilation shaft, the only other exit was the door to the side. She tried the door. Locked. "This door's no good either!" she reported, then her eyes fell on a key card reader. "I think we're gonna need a key!"

Before the cadets could say anything else, the intercom clicked on above them. A quick glance toward the noise revealed a security camera as well. "Ah, I hope you're ready for the second round of 'Playtime'. There's something I wish to learn from you," Delfredi spoke from an intercom. "Are you willing to face your fears to save your friend? Your lives now depend on it."

**AN: Don't forget to leave a review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: A little warning for all my underage/easily offended readers! There will be F-bombs dropped in this chapter. If you don't like it, skip that section! Again, if I mess up on subject material concerning psychological issues, feel free to tell me how it really works so I can possibly rewrite this later. Also, if there is any way I could improve the suspense in this chapter, tell me! I can take constructive criticism.**

** So far, RE6 is awesome! I am not able to play it right away (because I'm not allowed to have a console at college!), so I'm settling for walkthrough vids to get the storyline. Because I might be writing something RE6-related in the future~ **

** Anyway, I'd like to thank my reviewers from last chapter. As of this post, it's just Sarah Victoria Cullen and Johnclaw Dragonhelm. (I did some beta work for his story, Monster, go check it out!) So thank you!**

** Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Non-canon characters are the exception, except for Delfredi and Veronica. They are OCs made by JediSpartan217, who also helped me come up with this story.**

* * *

The two agents stared up at the intercom in shock as they took in the Delfredi's words. "What the hell do you want?!" Stevie shouted up at the camera, already aggravated enough by the madman's trap.

"I just told you: I want you to face your fears," Delfredi repeated. "In addition, I have decided to add a new rule: You are not allowed to speak to each other after this 'Playtime' begins. I will know if you do, and your friends will suffer consequences."

Stevie opened her mouth to object, only to be distracted as Kate pounded a fist on the glass door. The younger cadet looked over to see her partner shaking her head. "Don't do it," Kate silently warned. Given the fact that they were separated and locked in, there wasn't exactly any room for them to protest.

"Okay, so how the hell do we get out?!" Stevie tried instead.

"Your task is to retrieve the key inside that passage. 'Playtime' begin once you enter it," Delfredi instructed, "Without the key, you cannot leave."

"Gee thanks, Captain Obvious," the younger agent commented under her breath, getting more and more irritated with the madman as he spoke. "Did you get that one from 'Villains' Digest'?"

Delfredi apparently heard that comment and chuckled. "Best of luck," he added before leaving the agents on their own.

Stevie sighed dejectedly as her temper wound down. "Well that was a perfectly good quip wasted," she complained, "Now I have to make up a new one."

Kate nodded on the other side of the door. "Yes, but for the time being, it looks like it's up to you to get us out of here," she said, strangely calmer than she was a few minutes ago, "We know where the key is, and since this door is in the way . . ." Kate lightly knocked on the clear panel, emphasizing that she was unable to get through. However, it gave Stevie an idea.

"Kate, step away from the glass," the dark-haired agent warned as she pulled her handgun from her belt, "Let's see if this shit is bullet-proof."

The light brunette's eyes widened behind her glasses, but she stepped back enough to be out of range as her partner took aim. Stevie picked a corner of the glass frame and fired.

The bullet impacted, cracking the glass in a white spiderweb pattern. The panel had been damaged, but the glass still held together, with the bullet stuck in its own impression. Kate walked up to the glass and applied pressure the damaged area. It didn't give. "No good. Looks like I'm stuck here," she verified.

"Want me to try again?"

The older agent shook her head. "We gotta to save our bullets for a worst possible situation," she said, "We don't want Delfredi to accuse us of 'cheating'."

Stevie sighed as she put her handgun away. "So much for that idea," she muttered to herself, thinking quietly for a moment before deciding on her next course of action. "Sorry buddy, but seeing as you can't stop me . . . " the younger agent replied before turning towards the camera. With a decisive movement, the short-haired cadet threw up a vulgar gesture and held the pose long enough for the camera to see before she felt satisfied. "There. That should do it," she spoke as she let her arms down to sit at her hips, "Now all that's left is to get the key."

The two agents were silent for several seconds before Kate spoke. "You know what you have to do, right?"

Stevie smirked in assurance as she faced the ventilation passage in front of her. "This will be a piece of . . . cake," Her face fell as she realized what would have to happen. The younger cadet could fit through the vent easily; the real problem was completely different.

"Damn it!" the dark-haired agent thought, biting the inside of her cheek out of nerves, "Why the hell did Delfredi have to pick this as one of his tasks?!" Stevie shook her head. "C'mon already! Get a grip!" she mentally berated herself, "This is not a good time for a panic attack!"

"Stevie?" Her partner's voice broke her thought process, "Are you all right?"

The short-haired agent turned to check on her comrade, who had since adjusted to sitting on the floor. "Yeah," Stevie replied nervously, putting on a brave face for her partner. "I'll be . . . . fine."

The older brunette wasn't convinced; she knew how her partner reacted when it came to tight spaces. "Stay calm. Get in, grab the key, and get out," she instructed, leaning back against the wall of the short corridor in boredom, "I'm certainly not going anywhere."

The dark-haired agent exhaled heavily as she faced the vent again. As much as she hated the idea of crawling around in tight spaces, it was the only way to get the key that would lead them out of this mess. "Well, here goes," Stevie decided as she steeled her nerves and shoved her upper body into the vent. "I'm goin' in!" she declared to Kate as she crawled forward, bringing her legs in when she was far enough inside. "I'll see ya when I get out!"

Kate nodded, even though her partner couldn't see. As the bottoms of her partner's boots disappeared into darkness, a chilling, automated voice came over the intercom. "Playtime starts now."

* * *

Delfredi stood in the dark confines of the control room, his unshaven face lit only by the TV screens that served as his window into the facility. Each screen was fed by cameras set up around the building. The cameras weren't capable of receiving audio, but the video feed of the agents' 'Playtimes' were more than entertaining enough. While the cadets were occupied, Delfredi didn't feel the need to speak to them; he'd let their minds sabotage themselves this time.

Delfredi switched his gaze to another camera, stopping on a specific feed. The video in front of him showed Jill in one of the labs right outside the Licker chamber, hunching over a computer. Delfredi involuntarily twitched; he'd have to talk to Veronica later about leaving her computer terminal unguarded again.

In the meanwhile, there were some quick renovations to make. With the push of a few keystrokes, he locked the door into the stairwell and unlocked another door nearby. He smirked in satisfaction; that would keep the agent and the trainees separated for a little while longer for the time being. There was still a third 'Playtime' for them to complete, after all.

Delfredi's eyes returned to the image of Jill Valentine. She was enemy number one, as was anyone in the BSAA. That's what Delfredi had been told. Her face was familiar to him, but every time he tried to recall where he had seen her, his head would begin to ache as if a fist was pounding on his skull. Personally, he thought the female operative would be a well-suited asset to his cause. She just needed to understand.

The door to the control room closed behind him, bringing his thoughts to a halt. "Any news, Veronica?" he asked, his voice gravelly from fatigue.

"Everything is under control. Those BSAA brats discovered me and got away," she reported as she walked up and stopped short of Delfredi, despite the fact that he was much bigger than her, "But I was able to collect new data on the effects of G-xA gas in small doses."

Delfredi nodded in acknowledgment. "Excellent. I'll look over it next chance I get." With that response, the blonde woman walked up to his side and placed the notes she had taken on the console next to him. Veronica glanced up at the screens as she finished, only for a sour look to cross her face.

" Sir? Why do you insist on watching her?" she asked, not noticing the annoyed tone that crept into her voice as she glared up at the monitors.

"What do you mean?"

"Why ask for Jill Valentine? You've been so fixated on her activity," Veronica spoke as she drew closer to the muscular figure of her superior, not bothering to keep her agitation out of her voice, "Why does she warrant more of your attention than I do?"

Delfredi turned his head just enough to glower down at Veronica, his pupils cat-like slits that glowed in the darkness. "What was that?" he growled.

Veronica was caught off guard. The blonde woman flinched so hard that she nearly dropped her clipboard. "O-Oh! Nothing, sir!" she apologized, "I meant to ask why she is so important to our project?"

Delfredi turned his eyes back upward to the screens, staring at Jill one last time before switching the feed back to Stevie and Kate. "She is the only thing that can stop us from carrying out our plan. She's none of your concern. I'll take care of her myself."

Veronica's eyes narrowed darkly. "By 'take care of her' you do mean 'kill', right?" she asked, "We're still planning on taking her out of the picture, are we?"

Delfredi closed his tired eyes and exhaled briefly. He had not slept for days, and his body was beginning to feel the toll. "If it comes down to it, then yes, it's the only way this plan will succeed." He opened his eyes, casting his gaze back at the screens.

"Soon they'll be close to the point of joining me, and they'll finally understand what Wesker and I strived for. The past reveals the truth, and the truth brings reality."

Veronica looked up from the notes on her clipboard. "Reality, sir?"

"Yes. You see Veronica," he explained, "facing the truth about ourselves is our worst fear. And fear brings out a person's true colors. My truth, combined with their fears, will make them crumble."

Veronica nodded as she finished writing. "Very well, doctor." She turned and began walking to the door. "I'm going back outside. I'll call if I hear anything."

"You have my permission. Oh, and Veronica?"

"Yes sir?"

" . . . Change the password on your terminal. Jill Valentine just hacked into your files."

Veronica flushed bright pink. "Sorry sir! It won't happen again!" she apologized quickly before slipping out of the control room.

* * *

Jill Valentine scanned the map yet again; she lost count of how many times. She had been doing this over and over, even when her eyes began to hurt, convinced that she could find a way out of the facility. But she was having little luck. The map only showed the building's layout, with no labels on the rooms. "How does anyone get around in here?" Jill thought impatiently. She had tried retracing the route Delfredi had forced her to take, but the drastic changes from near-darkness to sterile white had left her eyes strained and her sense of location askew. She wasn't even sure where in the facility she was. Nevertheless, the blue-clad agent copied the map onto her jump drive as well.

While she waited for the information to finish downloading off of the computer, Jill took another look around the lab. There weren't as many abandoned papers in this room, and the lack of dust implied that somebody used this room frequently. Many of the papers had faded chemical equations scrawled on them, but they were incomprehensible to Jill. The BSAA agent moved a stack of the papers aside, only to uncover a small notebook, bearing the name V. Smithson on the bottom corner. "Probably the same person who sent out that e-mail," Jill thought as she picked up the notebook. Turning to the first page revealed a journal entry, most likely written for keeping track of progress. Jill flipped through the pages, stopping on an entry dated around a month ago. "Almost the same time Chris disappeared," the female agent thought as she began to read.

"01/02/2013

Delfredi has arrived and is in stable condition. The project can begin.

01/03/2013

Delfredi and I have started on our newest project. This Umbrella base will serve well for a testing ground and laboratory. Nobody will be coming back here as long as we keep a low profile."

After that entry, several pages had been ripped out of the journal. The next entry was dated less than a week later.

"01/08/2013

Experienced slight setback as the half-completed mixture and primary supplies spoiled from the storage room's poor ventilation. (Did Umbrella ever hear of lab safety codes?) Will have to try and recreate product from scratch once new supplies arrive.

01/10/2013

Received fresh samples of T and G. Delfredi and I have already begun preliminary research on the effects of both viruses. Tested them using three modified corpses ( Delfredi's choice; can't explain WHY). T is effective in reanimating bodies, but G produces no result. May be better if we combine the viruses into something new and test it, preferably on live subjects."

Jill flipped forward through pages of notes, stopping when she saw another familiar name.

" 01/18/2013

The samples of T-Abyss have arrived. Will combine with current 'Gx-virus' after research is completed. Hopefully when combined, mix will produce results similar to requested product.

01/24/2013

The 'Gx-A' strain is complete and ready for testing on live subjects."

That was the last entry, Jill discovered as she turned to the next page to find it ripped out. "Gx-A?" the agent thought as her eyes stayed on the page; the entry had been made a few weeks ago. "Is that what they've been working on?" The agent flipped through the pages again. "No mention of Chris anywhere. Only Delfredi," Jill noted, "Why would they combine all of those viruses if not to start a new outbreak?" The agent's thoughts became tense. Given that she had seen what each of those viruses could do by themselves first-hand, who knows how much death and destruction would occur if this new virus was released?

"'Gx-A' . . . . Whatever it is, I've got to make sure this doesn't get out!"

* * *

"Fuck, fuck, holy fuck!" Stevie thought rapidly as she squirmed through the vent. "I don't want to be in here!" Shortly after leaving Kate behind, the vent had begun to feel smaller and smaller until the sides of the vent made contact with the younger cadet's elbows and limbs. Her nerves began to tingle as she felt the walls closing in on her. Her breathing grew sharper and sharper. Her hands began shaking as flashbacks of being squeezed too tight began to come back to her. "Holy shit," Stevie breathed, closing her eyes so she didn't have to stare into the darkness ahead of her, "I gotta chill out. This is getting a bit much." The dark-haired cadet paused, taking time to calm herself down. Cursing like a sailor was actually a good coping mechanism; within two minutes, she was ready to go again.

Once she was calm enough to think clearly, Stevie produced a small flashlight from her pocket and turned it on. The clear beam of light illuminated the vent enough for her to see ahead. "Gotta focus," Stevie reminded herself, holding the flashlight with her teeth, "Kate is waiting on me." As much as she wanted to hear her partner's voice, Delfredi would undoubtedly do even more damage if they spoke. Stevie began crawling forward again. The metal of the vent groaned underneath her. She halted in her tracks, staying completely still. After a few seconds of reassuring that she was going to be alright, she began moving again. "Mother fuck this is not fun!" the younger agent thought, crawling forward a little faster now. She'd have to move quick if she wanted to get out.

A second beam of light interrupted the darkness, this one coming up from the room below. Stevie crawled towards the opening and peered past the bars and into the room. "Oh, you have got be fucking kidding."

Below her was the roomful of sleeping Lickers she and Kate had to pass through earlier, only now the Lickers were awake and crawling all over each other. It was then Stevie realized how many there were. "Fuck me, that's a lot of monsters." As she spoke, one of the Lickers snapped at another, hissing violently. " And they look hungry." The agent gathered her nerves and crawled onward, careful in her movements as the vent creaked again. "This thing better not collapse with me in it. I don't feel like becoming Licker chow."

Stevie moved past the opening, going deeper into the shaft. After several 'steps', the flashlight caught a gleam of plastic hanging in the center of the vent, an Umbrella logo decorating the middle. The dark-haired agent squinted for a better look. The shape of the object proved to be rectangular, and as it spun, a piece of black magnetic strip made itself visible. A keycard.

Stevie began to move quicker, only to hear the metal groan under her weight even louder than before. She stopped again. After many seconds of unease, the nervous cadet reached forward, beads of sweat sticky in the palms of her hands. A quick tug pulled the keycard free, snapping the fishing line it had been attached to. "Delfredi, I hope you know I really, really fucking hate you right now," Stevie thought as she began inching her way backwards. Right now all she wanted was to get back to her partner, punch Delfredi in the face, and get away from the tunnel. Not necessarily in that order.

* * *

A dull, echoing creak of metal forced Kate to open her eyes, then left her blinking up at the white ceiling in confusion. "When did I end up on the floor?" she wondered. Last time she checked, she had been leaning against a wall. "Did I fall asleep?" The quiet agent quickly recollected what had happened. Just after Stevie crawled into the vent, Kate decided she would try clearing her head with meditation, seeing as there wasn't much else to do. She had been able to clear her thoughts without interruption. Then at some point later her consciousness shut down. "I fell asleep!"

The light brunette shot upright. She prepared to call out to her friend, but then remembered Delfredi's new rule. She closed her mouth and sat back down.

The room hadn't changed at all. Same stark white walls, bright lights in the ceiling, the doors hadn't moved, and except for the occasional creak from the vent, there was no noise at all. It comforted the older cadet and yet unnerved her. Long periods of isolation made her anxious. The silence was nerve-wracking too. There was no way of knowing if her partner was alright.

Kate checked her BSAA-issued watch. By her estimation, sunset had been at seven pm. Now the watch read one in the morning. It had been six hours since the BSAA dropped them near the facility, which meant Delfredi had them trapped for five hours now. But she had no idea when 'Playtime' had started. Kate sighed. She could have been asleep from anywhere around five minutes to an hour. How much longer would it have to be before she and her comrade could get out?

A sickly feeling entered her stomach as Kate turned her gaze back to the open vent. The thought that her partner might still be in there, probably scared out of her mind, made her want to cry out in support and remind her that her comrade was still there. But she couldn't, not if someone was going to be hurt by doing so. "I hope Stevie's okay," the older agent prayed as she sat with her knees folded up in front of her, "She wouldn't leave without me, right?"

"Are you so sure?"

Kate's head jerked upward with alarmed eyes as a familiar accented voice entered her ear. She checked all corners of the room. No one was there. "Let me guess: you're here too?" she muttered.

"You didn't answer my question," Excella repeated, "Are you sure?"

Kate's shoulders hunched up, protecting her neck as she brought her knees up in front of her. "Stevie will be out soon. I'm sure of it."

"Liar. She might not return . . . In fact, she may have already left you behind."

The older cadet's blinked. She never considered that alternative. Could Stevie have already gotten out? No, Kate would have heard her partner reappear. But then again, the older agent could sleep like the dead if she was far gone enough into dreamland. But still, Stevie probably would have tried to wake her from the other side of the glass. Was Excella's suggestion even possible?

"Maybe she went ahead to find help?" the light brunette thought, pulling herself away from negative thoughts.

Excella scoffed. "Even so, you think she'll survive, come back, and free you? She won't; stop denying it."

Kate's feeling of unease grew, moving up to her brain as she thought about her friend. "She will come back . . . she will," the agent replied softly, more to herself than to Excella. "Just leave me alone. Get out of my head already."

The villainess laughed. "I can see ALL secrets you keep. Even your worst memories."

"What?!" Kate's head shot up, wide-eyed. She knew exactly what memories the former Tricell executive was talking about. " . . G-Get out of there! Those are personal! Stay away!" the insecure girl urged, grasping her head with shaky hands.

Excella chuckled. "Let's see, you've already wanted to die once, didn't you?"

The older girl's eyes widened as the memory came rushing back to her. It had been less than a month after her parents' divorce. Although her parents parted peacefully, it had still been the hardest emotional experience of Kate's life. It had gotten to the point where she just wanted the pain to stop, or at least have an injury to match the emotional pain she had felt. The only reason she didn't do it was that she kept thinking about it. The older cadet hadn't told anyone about it, save her mother several months later. ". . . That was a very dark time in my life. I don't want to go there again," Kate explained, eyes darting around the room.

"Ah, but there's more. That wasn't your first experience with death, wasn't it?"

Another memory came back to her. It was the night Stevie lost her dad. Kate had seen her friend's heart break that evening. That's when the quiet girl swore to herself that she would do everything in her power to stay near her comrades' sides. If any of them had to suffer, then it wouldn't be alone.

Both sets of emotional scars were still visceral years later.

Kate slunk back to the floor, laying on her side as she faced the wall. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. It's too personal," she replied quietly, recalling every emotion she felt.

"Poor dear," Excella crooned, "Are you finally giving up?"

Kate curled up into a ball, biting her lip as tears threatened to form. She had begun to feel drained, as if all the hope she possessed was slowly being siphoned away. All she could do was remind herself keep breathing and not give in. "You're not even real," she reassured herself.

"Aww . . . Is somebody in denial?"

"My partner's going to come back soon."

Excella scoffed, becoming frustrated with her victim's behavior. "Face it. She left you to die."

"That's not like her!" Kate retorted in disbelief, still curled up on the floor, "Stevie would never leave a comrade behind!"

"How do you know?" Excella countered, "That so called 'Loyalty' you are so fond of? Nothing! She was just using you, stop trying to deny it!"

Indignation began building up inside the older cadet. She wanted to object, but found no words to defend her partner's honor. She wanted to throw a tantrum, break something, anything to express her irritation. Instead, she took a deep breath and buried her emotions. They wouldn't help her, not in her current condition.

The older agent sat silently, ignoring the coldness of the tile floor. As much as she didn't want to believe Excella, the notion of being left for dead was beginning to feel a little too real. There was only one way to find out.

She sat up, faced the room through the glass panel, and folded her legs in a crisscross. "Enough with the head games, Excella," the older cadet warned in the calmest voice she could muster while clenching her teeth, "I'm getting pissed off."

She could sense the villainess' smirk. "Very good," Excella replied, "When you're not angry, you're weak."

The older agent controlled her breathing as another set of mental images flashed in her mind's eye. All the times she had "snapped", or gone "berserk". That behavior was something Kate had never been proud of, because whenever she snapped, she was in danger of hurting others out of blind rage.

The memory of the roof battle stood at the forefront of her mind. Even after four years, the older agent had no idea how to feel about her actions in that short moment of fury. If she hadn't relinquished control, the battle probably would have ended badly. ". . . I'm not that kind of person. Not anymore," Kate replied to the air.

"Don't be foolish," Excella prodded, "I see the monster that lies inside of you, just waiting to be stirred up again."

"But I don't want be that person!" the older agent protested, her voice transforming from calm to distressed again, "That's not who I am. And why won't you just go away!?"

Excella fell silent, then spoke slowly. ". . . If I leave, you will be ALONE." Kate's anger subsided as solemn memories began to replay in her head. The most prominent one was from her childhood, standing alone on the school playground while other children were having fun around her. The memory brought an ache to the older cadet's chest. It had never been easy for her to make friends. That's why she treasured Stevie and Mattie's companionship.

"You don't want to feel like that again, do you?" The older cadet shook her head. "Do not forget: I am your only companion here," Excella told her, "But, if you insist . . ."

"Please," Kate begged softly as the villainess' presence threatened to fade, "Don't leave. I don't want to be alone."

Several minutes passed; Kate didn't bother to keep track of time. She just sat and waited, even after her butt had gone numb.

Finally, a familiar sound of grunts echoed out of the vent, growing louder and louder. Kate looked up at the sound. After a few seconds of staring, a set of boots emerged from the hole in the wall, followed by a body. Stevie had returned!

Once completely out of the vent, the dark-haired cadet gave a tired sigh, then looked back to her patient comrade. Upon making eye contact, they exchanged relieved grins; both were happy to see that their partner was safe. Stevie sent a thumbs-up to her friend, silently asking if she was okay. Kate nodded, returned the thumbs-up, then nodded towards the keycard reader.

Stevie returned the nod, then rushed over to the card reader and shoved the keycard inside. A 'click' told the that the next door was unlocked, then the glass panel that kept the agents apart began to retreat into the ceiling.

Kate jumped to her feet. Once the door was clear of her head, the two women rushed to each other, meeting in a hug in the center of the room.

The two agents embraced for a long time, allowing each other's presence to alleviate their fears. When they finally parted, Stevie nodded towards the newly unlocked door. The two agents walked up, opened the door, passed through, and moved onward, one step closer to escape.

**AN: Well, if anyone wanted to know about Stevie and Kate's emotional scars, there you are.**

**Reviews are awesome! They motivate me to get these chapters done! Even though I don't have as much time on my hands as I used to!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I get the feeling this chapter is late. I was busy playing Psychonauts . . . . and Borderlands . . . and Bioshock. Blame college too. I got a lot of assignments right now. Philosophy essays = not fun for me. Midterms suck. :P Good news is, the semester ends soon.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Non-canon characters are my responsibility. Delfredi and Veronica are jedispartan217's OCs. She helped me with the plot too!**

* * *

"That," Stevie complained as soon they were out of the room, with the door shut behind them for good measure, "was the worst 'Playtime' I've ever had in my life."

"Let's pray that was the worst of what Delfredi has set up for us," Kate replied softly as she briskly moved past her partner to take point. The older agent wanted to get away from the room and abandon all thoughts of the last 'Playtime' as quickly as possible.

The dark-haired agent scoffed as she followed, looking around the stark white hallway they had stepped into. "Tch. Aside from his interior decorator, I don't even want to think about what could be worse," she continued, "I mean, did they know I was claustrophobic before deciding to make me crawl through a hole in the damn wall?!"

Kate's mouth formed a scowl. Her nerves were wearing thin. "You think that sucked?" she replied in a low voice, despite her mind telling her to hold her tongue, "Try being isolated for who knows how long with a voice in your head playing with your doubts and fears. That sucks."

Stevie scoffed again, this time rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Bitch please," the younger agent griped, shuddering as she relived her time in the air duct, "you have no idea what happened to me in there!"

"And you don't know what happened to me either," the older agent bit back, her voice growing louder as she became more annoyed, "so that makes us even!" Kate spun around to face her taller comrade, and the two agents stared each other down; hazel-green fixed on pale blue. They stood like that for several seconds, glaring, daring the other to speak first.

Tension hung unspoken between them like a gallon of nitroglycerin. One wrong word and everything would explode. Nonetheless, both women held their ground.

Finally, Stevie spoke up. "You got something you want to say?" she said in a low, serious tone, her expression grave, "Go ahead. Say it."

"Fine," Kate began to talk, then came to realization: the whole argument was trivial. "This fight is pointless! We aren't helping anyone right now!" The older agent turned away and began pacing the width of the hall, as was the norm when her thoughts were on a roll. "We can agree we both got the short end of the stick during that last 'Playtime'-"

"You got that right."

"-but arguing is not going to help us find our way out," the glasses-wearing agent continued, her voice much calmer as she continued pacing, "And I wouldn't be surprised if Delfredi wanted us to argue and have it disrupt our partnership as part of his plan."

Stevie shifted her weight and settled a hand on her hip. "It certainly sounds like something he would do," she commented. "So what now? Are we gonna argue over which one of us was closer to pissing our pants, or are we going to go find our friends?"

Kate ceased her pacing and looked her partner in the eye. "What are we waiting for? Let's go find them."

The agents continued their trek a short ways down the brightly lit hallway. The dark-haired cadet was right; Delfredi REALLY needed to fire his interior decorator. The two women grimaced at the glaring white walls. They had been trained in shadowy, but decently lit gymnasiums, and if the tugging sensation behind their eyes was any indication, the walls were passive-aggressively threatening to give them eyestrain.

A single door to the right offered relief. The agents opened it, only to reveal a comfortably darkened stairwell, with one set of stairs leading downward. A black arrow had been hastily painted on the concrete wall, along with the words 'This way to freedom', no doubt Delfredi's handiwork.

"Looks like somebody wants us to go down here," Stevie commented. Kate stepped forward and peered down the stairwell. This one was dimly lit like the last one, and shadows dressed the lower levels that had less lighting, making Kate grip the rail tightly as she leaned forward to gaze into the darkness.

"What's wrong?" Excella crooned in the older girl's mind, causing her to shiver a little, "Afraid of the dark?"

Kate stood silent and forced herself to stare into the abyss. "I'm more afraid of what could be in it," she spoke under her breath.

"You okay, buddy?"

The older agent looked over to find Stevie looking at her with a confused expression. "It's nothing," the uneasy cadet apologized.

"Right," the dark-haired cadet replied. "I've double checked the corridor out there; the other doors in the area are locked. It looks like this is our only choice."

The two agents began to descend the stairwell, turning on their flashlights when the shadows became too much. Their footsteps echoed in the passage, the sound both comforting and nerve-wracking as they walked. More arrows, this time in white paint, pointed them downward, only these were slightly faded from age, as if they had been part of the original facility.

"'Prison level'," Kate read above one of the arrows, "Why would this place have a prison level?"

"Probably to hold test subjects or unruly monsters. Take your pick," Stevie offered, "Maybe the others are down there."

Kate nodded, and they continued their descent down the stairs. "It's getting colder," the older cadet noted aloud as a chill snuck up her spine, "We must be underground by now."

Her companion nodded. "Leave it to Umbrella to construct a facility like this," Stevie commented.

The girls continued their journey, the stairwell growing colder and colder, making the fine hair on the back of their necks stand on end. After many stories, they hit a floor that offered no path downward, save for a single door. "I think we hit the bottom," Kate noted.

"What gave you that idea?" Stevie joked. Her friend rolled her eyes in response. "Ah well, one way to go."

They opened the door and emerged into a small, unlit office. A test of the nearest light switch proved that nobody had bothered to come down and do maintenance. The cadets turned on their flashlights and swept the room. A single desk, a chair, and another door inhabited the antechamber. A second sweep revealed a single piece of paper, crumpled up and forgotten in a corner. Kate picked up the mangled paper and unfolded it. "Take a look at this," she said. Stevie walked over to stand beside her and began reading.

"To my knowledge, there are three captives here in this facility. Delfredi has decided that they will make the perfect specimens to perform tests on. (And they aren't bad looking as well!) The test subjects are being held in the prison level below. Oddly enough, this floor is equipped with Cryo-Stasis equipment. I'm not sure why it would be here. Probably leftover Umbrella tech."

"This must have been written by Veronica," Stevie spoke, "The handwriting is certainly similar to the note we found earlier."

"Three captives . . ." Kate murmured. "Chris and Mattie might be down here!"

"Yeah, but what about the third guy?" Stevie added, "We've only lost two people. Three if you count Jill, and this note was written before we got here."

Kate blinked down at the note. "I'm not sure. We won't know until we find out."

The two agents pushed open the door behind the desk, revealing the hallway that lay beyond. This was the belly of the prison level. The cells were set up on one side of the hallway, sealed by doors with small, barred windows and a tiny opening to slide trays of food into. Locks also decorated each door. The entire corridor was sparsely lit with swinging lamps, making the shadows dance eerily as they ventured inside.

The prison level was just as silent as the others, save for the combined breathing and footsteps of the two girls as they walked forward, holding their handguns in front of them in case an enemy should appear.

A whisper echoed up the hall. "No..." The agents froze. They were not alone. "...have NOT ... left behind."

The cadets pinpointed the source of the voice to the cell directly to their left. Moving quickly, Stevie and Kate flanked both sides of the door. With her partner offering to cover her, Stevie leaned over, and peered through the slot.

A single figure sat in the center of the room, facing the back wall. Even in the dim light of the cell, certain features were distinguishable. Stevie recognized the prisoner's short, chocolate brown hair and stocky, muscular frame immediately.

"It's her!" Stevie whispered to Kate, who leaned over to peek through the slot as well. "Pst! Mattie! Mattie! Over here!"

The prisoner turned around. "Stevie? Kate? Is that you?" Mattie spoke, squinting at them with unaided eyes; her glasses had gone missing. "What are you guys doing here? Are you trapped too?"

"In a sense, yes," Kate said, "We're here to get you out!"

Stevie pulled out her handgun and aimed for the lock. "Everyone step back," she warned as she rested a finger on the trigger. Kate stepped away from the door, and with one pull of a trigger, the lock that had been fastened to the door broke and fell to the ground.

The two agents pulled the door open and rushed in, only to be tackled backwards by a waiting Mattie. "I'm so glad to see you two!" their friend gushed, "Oh, thank God you're real!"

"Er...glad to see you too!" Stevie returned with a semi-puzzled look on her face, "What do you mean 'real'?!"

"Are you alright, Mattie?" Kate asked, getting straight to business.

Mattie shrugged as she let her friends go. Now they could fully see her, still clad in her BSAA pants and boots, as well as an undershirt. "Still in one piece, but my gear and jacket got taken away, along with my goggles."

Stevie raised an eyebrow. "Your goggles?" she asked, a quizzical expression on her face.

"Yeah! Quint made them to replace my glasses after a little accident during 'Rookie Pinball'," Mattie explained, "You haven't seen them, have you?"

"No, but we're glad you're okay," Kate replied.

Mattie took a glance at her rescuers' attire and began talking again. "So, when did you guys join the BSAA?"

"Not long ago," Kate lied, "We just graduated to cadet status. What happened to you?"

Mattie took a seat on the prison floor. "Well, I was with Parker. We got ambushed by Hunters. He got hurt. I helped him get out, and then I shut myself in so the Hunters wouldn't escape," she recounted. "Speaking of which, how is he?"

"Parker made it back to HQ. He's going to be stuck in bed for a while," Stevie explained, "Mother of God, It's a wonder you're alive right now!"

"There's more," Mattie continued, "after I the last wave of Hunters, a weird yellow gas came out of the sprinklers. I couldn't breathe and passed out. But before I fell unconscious, I saw Chris running towards me."

Kate's eyes widened. "You saw Chris?!"

"He picked me up, and then I passed out," Mattie finished, "Then I woke up here. Since then all I've been able to do is talk to Mr. Ashford here!" She turned to address an empty corner of the cell. "Yes. I'm talking about YOU."

"Ashford? As in Alfred? Are you hallucinating too?" Stevie asked. Mattie nodded. "It sounds like you got hit with the exact same stuff Kate did."

"Only worse. But I can't see her, thank goodness," the eldest cadet added.

Mattie cocked her head. "Who are you hearing?" she asked curiously.

"Excella."

"Yikes."

The older cadet's eyes fell on Mattie's left arm, which was wrapped in bandages from her wrist to the shoulder of the tank top she usually wore under her jacket. "What happened to your arm?"

Mattie lifted her arm for the others to see. "I think I took a scratch from one of the Hunters. I haven't felt brave enough to take the bandages off to check."

"Let me take a look," Kate offered. The quiet agent found the end of the bandages and began unrolling. Everything looked normal, and then the skin became discolored with a sickly yellow tint that covered Mattie's entire arm. The older cadet's eyes widened. "Oh boy. This does not look good."

Mattie looked down, only to have her eyes widen in alarm. She leaned away from the abnormal appendage. "W-What is that?!" she questioned, staring at her arm for a few seconds, then looked to her friends with an expression of sheer panic. "Guys?! What the heck is going on with my arm?! Talk to me!"

"We're not sure. But you need to stay calm," Kate ordered, "We've got some medicine." The quiet agent pulled some of the green herb leaves she had picked out of her back pocket. "Let's try this." She squeezed the leaf, coaxing out the green-tinted gel, and rubbed it onto the discolored skin. Nothing changed. Kate sighed and put the other leaves back into her pocket. "So much for that idea."

"What do we do now?" Stevie asked, looking a little nervous herself.

Kate turned her attention back to her patient. "Mattie. Can you still use your arm?" the calmer agent asked.

Mattie tested her limb, flexing and bending it every which way. "Yeah, it's just sore," she replied.

"Then It sounds like we should be okay, but we better watch it and make sure it doesn't spread." Kate warned. She began re-wrapping the bandage, muttering to herself, "This is probably what she meant by other side effects."

"Who's 'She'?" Mattie questioned.

"Delfredi's assistant," Stevie explained, leaning against the wall as she kept one eye on the door, "A blonde woman named Veronica. Oddly perky when it comes to Tyrant research for some reason."

Mattie scrunched her eyebrows in thought. "I don't recognize her, but I did talk to a woman while I was in here," she spoke. "She was asking me questions about how I was feeling. I take it Delfredi is the man behind all of this?"

Stevie and Kate nodded. "Yep, that's him. What did you tell her?" the dark-haired agent asked.

"The usual: 'Perfectly fine except for my arm'," Mattie answered, "I also told her about Alfred too."

"Have you seen Chris since you passed out?" Kate asked.

Mattie shook her head. "No. I haven't seen him at all," she replied, "Have you?"

Now it was Stevie's turn to shake her head. "We haven't seen any sign of him either," she explained, "I'm beginning to wonder if this whole thing is a trap."

Mattie shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. I've been stuck in here for hours."

"More like a few days, to be exact," Kate thought to herself, not bothering to say it aloud for the sake of Mattie's sanity. "Anyway, we still have to find Jill and Chris before we can leave," she said as she finished re-wrapping her friend's bandage.

Mattie perked up, becoming excited at the mention of her mentor. "Jill's here too?"

"Yes," Kate explained as she stood to her feet, "We were with her for a while, then we got separated as soon as we walked into this place."

Mattie jumped to her feet, wincing as she put weight on her bad arm. "Then c'mon! Let's go!" she cheered.

Stevie and Kate shared an unsure look between them, and then the dark-haired cadet pulled her comrade into a huddle near the cell door. "You think this is a good idea?," Stevie whispered, "I'm not sure if Mattie's in the best condition right now. She'd be safer in here."

Kate nodded. "If that arm gets worse, then we're in trouble," she agreed, "And with her vision impaired, that'll be a disadvantage too."

"So what do we tell her?"

Meanwhile, Mattie watched her friends as they whispered among each other. "What's up with them?" she thought, cocking her head at the strange sight, "Why aren't they talking to me?"

"They're plotting to leave you behind," Alfred leered. Mattie's eyes darted to the far corner of her cell, where the obnoxious Ashford had decided to take up residence. "You see, I told you this would happen," he spoke as an evil smirk crossed his face. "What will you do now, mouse?"

Mattie's eyes narrowed, then she turned and silently snuck up to her friends. When she was close enough, she grabbed both of them by the shoulders. "Oh no you don't!" she warned, surprising Stevie and Kate with her sudden appearance, "You two are not leaving me alone with him! I've had enough of being stuck in here! I'm coming with you!"

There was a short pause as Stevie and Kate tried to figure out what to say. "You're sure you can fight?" the glasses-wearing cadet asked. Mattie nodded. "Even with your eyesight?"

"I can still tell the difference between monsters and people. Jill gave me some hand-to-hand combat training, and I know my way around a knife."

Stevie and Kate shared a quick look, then exchanged a nod. "Alright, you're coming with us," the dark-haired cadet spoke as she pulled her BSAA-issued knife out of its sheath, "But hold onto this. It would be a bad idea for any one of us to run around unarmed."

Mattie took the knife and stuck it into one of the pockets of her BSAA-issued cargo pants. "This'll do for now. They took my belt, too."

Kate raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Guess they don't want anyone killing themselves," she noted.

The three BSAA cadets left the cell and began walking down the hall, sticking close together for safety. Even with the sparse lighting, there was no telling how far the corridor stretched. They pressed forward, stopping when an object drew their attention. "What's that?" Mattie asked, squinting downwards at the object.

A portable tape player sat on the floor in front of them, surrounded by the circle of light cast by the bulb. Stevie stepped forward and kneeled next to the player. "It doesn't look dangerous," she said as she inspected it, "Think Delfredi left us a message?"

"We won't know unless we listen," Kate answered.

The youngest of the three nodded, picked the player up, pressed a button, and the tape started playing. "If you find this, you have made it to Playtime #3," Delfredi's warped voice spoke, "How willing are you to trust a perfect stranger?" The recording cut off there.

"'Perfect stranger'?" Mattie repeated, "Guess it wasn't just me down here after all."

Stevie and Kate turned to their friend. "What are you talking about?" the younger of the two asked.

"I've heard echoes of other voices from my cell, coming from down this hall," Mattie explained, pointing down the corridor, "I just thought they were part of the hallucination." Her eyes darted to the opposite wall. "Oh, shut up you."

"It sounds like we're going to be meeting them soon," Kate spoke under her breath, "Better stay close."

The three women ventured deeper into the prison level, keeping an eye on each other's blind spots as well as on the cells. There was no telling if something was inside, waiting to jump them when their guard was down. But so far, the coast had remained clear. The prison level was a maze. Several twists and turns had gotten them into an unknown part of the prison floor, having lost sight of the Mattie's cell and the place where they picked up the recording almost an hour ago. As time passed, their suspicions began to rise. Had Delfredi slipped them a red herring?

"Where are they?" Mattie whispered, her voice echoing in the corridor.

"Dunno," Stevie murmured, "I haven't seen anyone. Do you think we walked past them?"

As her partners conferred amongst themselves, Kate's eyes glanced around the area, scanning for clues. Her vision fell on the cell door next to her. She blinked. This door is different, she noticed. The last several doors didn't have a ID plate on them, like most offices did. This one had a metal plate marked '001998-4'. The cell next to it had a similar plate labeled '001998-5'.

Out of curiosity, Kate poked the serving flap open and peeked inside. A large, muscular male figure stood near the back of the cell. His face was turned away from the door, and the shadows hid many of his other features. But the quiet agent could make out a head of unkempt, slightly spiky brown hair.

"There's someone in here," the older agent whispered, drawing her comrades' attention, "I can't tell if it's Chris."

"Let's find out," Stevie whispered before speaking into the slot, "Chris? Chris, Is that you?!"

"...Who's Chris?" the figure replied, dashing the agents' hopes six feet below ground. "Look, if you're here for 'Playtime', you can tell Delfredi to shove it up his-"

"We're not with Delfredi!" Mattie interrupted. "We're on a rescue mission with the BSAA!"

"BSAA?" the man responded, "Can't say I've heard of them."

"Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance," Stevie explained, "Kinda self- explanatory as to what they do. They've been around for a while."

"Then it sounds like you're my kind of people," the prisoner replied, "Now would you mind getting me out of here? I heard that you were lost, and I know a way out of this goddamn maze."

The three agents looked between each other, sharing a doubtful expression. They turned away from the cell and entered a huddle.

"Should we let him out?" Stevie asked, hoping to get her friends' opinions, "He might be able to help us."

"We don't know if his information is good. It could be a trap set by Delfredi," Kate argued, "This is probably what he meant by 'trusting a perfect stranger'."

"He's been here longer than I have, it sounds like," Mattie added.

"And he really doesn't like Delfredi," Stevie added, "We know that much."

"So what should we do?" Kate asked her comrades, "We could try to find the exit ourselves if we're careful."

"I assume you've seen his pets already?" the prisoner spoke, interrupting their huddle. The trio looked over to the door to find that the man had gotten up and moved to lean against the door to speak to them more directly. "Even if all three of you are armed, it's going to take a lot more than that if you want a fighting chance to escape."

"And you think can give us that chance?" Stevie questioned.

The man gave a short chuckle. "I've already been in prison once, and four sets of eyes are better than three."

"How do we know you won't backstab us?" Kate asked, coldly folding her arms under her chest.

Another chuckle. "You'll have to release me to find out."

"Final thoughts?" Stevie asked her friends, "This guy sounds like he knows what's going on here."

"We outnumber him, and we've got guns," Mattie pointed out, "We can take him on."

The final vote rested with Kate. ". . . Fine," she agreed, "But don't let him get too close. If he takes one of us hostage and grabs a weapon, we'll be in trouble."

"Alright then, it's settled," Stevie said, "Mattie. Do your thing."

Mattie cast her eyes aside. "Uhh, slight problem," she reminded them, "They took away my gear, remember? My lock-pick was in there too."

"Think you can improvise?" Kate asked.

The half-blind agent gave the question some thought. "Perhaps," she replied, "Got a hairpin?" Kate nodded and reached to the base of her ponytail, producing a hairpin for her comrade.

"Thanks," Mattie said as she took the hairpin and went to work on the lock. After a series of clicks, the lock came undone. She stepped back as the door swung open.

The prisoner stepped out. It was easy to see how he could have been mistaken for Chris with his wild hair. Under his drab clothes, his body showed that he continued working out while he was imprisoned. Both sleeves of the light jacket he wore over his shirt had been ripped off, revealing a certain tattoo winding up his right arm and a pair of handcuffs dangling from his wrist. The sight made the agents' jaws nearly drop.

"There we go. That's better, isn't it?" he spoke, smirking down at the three agents as he leaned in the doorway.

"Ay! Billy! You talking to someone over there?" a voice echoed from the cell to the right. This one was also male, and by the sound of it, had a Spanish accent.

Billy rolled his eyes and mouthed something along the lines of 'God help me'. "No, I'm talking to the wall, moron," he replied.

"Then why do I hear the voices of three ladies?"

"It's just your imagination, dumbass!"

"Bull!" The sound of boots was heard from the next cell, and soon enough, a pair of eyes appeared at the slot. "Wow. There really are girls here. You liar."

"I never said they weren't." Billy retorted.

"Eh, who cares?" the second prisoner replied before focusing on the girls. "So, you ladies care to let me out?"

Stevie, Kate and Mattie exchanged perplexed looks. "Hadn't planned on it," the oldest of the three spoke.

"Then don't," Billy advised, "He has a habit of getting on people's nerves and then never getting off."

"I only did that to you, by the way," the new prisoner replied.

"Seriously though, don't let him out," Billy added to the women, "You'll regret it."

"Aw, C'mon amigo!"

The women looked between each other. "He sounds harmless enough," Mattie commented.

"I don't see any problems," Stevie added, shrugging her shoulders.

"We don't even know who we're talking to!" Kate objected, catching her friends by surprise. " I don't know about you, but I'd like to know who this guy is before we let him out."

"Hmm... I got an idea," Stevie spoke. She turned to the cell holding the unknown prisoner. "Hey, dude! If we let you out, will you tell us your name?"

"Course I will! A name's a small price for getting out of this mess," the captive replied in a cheerful manner.

"Then it's settled!" the dark-haired cadet added brightly. "Mattie?"'

Mattie walked over to the second cell, her comrades' eyes fixed closely on Billy Coen as she began picking the lock. If he tried anything funny while Mattie's back was turned, he was going to see the receiving end of two angry girls with handguns. After a few seconds, the lock clicked open and fell to the ground. Mattie pulled the door open towards her, and the prisoner could be heard moving around before appearing in the doorframe.

The prisoner wore the same clothes as Billy, only the sleeves on his coat had been rolled up to the elbow instead of ripped off. He had somehow gotten his greasy brown hair to stay back, except for the short bangs that framed his forehead. A mustache decorated his upper lip as well.

"Carlos Olivera, at your service ladies," he introduced himself, "Now, which one of you should I be kissing first?"

Stevie's fist connected with his jaw four seconds later.

**AN: Don't forget to leave a review! It motivates me to keep going!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: ...yeah. This chapter is REALLY late. Sorry about that. This chapter was really dull to write; not a lot of excitement this time. I'm partially to blame by letting myself develop a massive Steam habit. Life and college also dumped a lot of work, drama, and family stuff on me since I last posted. By the time this is posted, I will be on winter break and about to start second semester! I gotta my butt back into gear and write! **

**After this story is done, I think I'll stick to writing one-shots and short stories while I'm at college. Maybe write for a fandom other than Resident Evil. A huge project like this is hard to keep up with!**

**As of Nov. 22nd, it has been one year since I've started posting to this site! Happy new year! And if you've stuck around this long, thanks for being patient!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. I take responsibility for non-canon characters, but JediSpartan217 (my co-writer) came up with Delfredi and Veronica.**

* * *

"It doesn't look like there will be lasting damage. Just a bruise," Kate confirmed as she stood over Carlos' face, "Better keep this on it, just in case."

"Ay!" the ex-mercenary groaned in exaggerated pain as the agent pressed the bundle of ice closer to his face. "Your friend there hits hard chica," Carlos added, sending a wayward glance towards Stevie.

The dark-haired agent looked over and gave a shrug from the far side of the room. "Sorry man, but I don't like unfamiliar people in my face," she apologized, "Don't take it personal."

After Carlos introduced himself, Kate had taken a huge step backwards away from the cells. Mattie turned away too, which left Stevie standing closest to the former mercenary trying to figure out what in the sam-hill her friends were doing. She didn't notice Carlos approach, and turned back around to find the ex-mercenary uncomfortably close to her face. Needless to say, Stevie let her fist do the talking.

After the little debacle, the group retreated into what used to be a break room for guards. Surprisingly enough, the room still had electricity and a small mini fridge. A quick improvisation turned a couple of ice cubes and unused napkins into a makeshift ice pack.

Carlos chuckled, ignoring the pain in his jaw. "That's okay. I can take a hint," he replied, "I still get attention either way."

Kate's face flushed light pink as she realized that she was still leaning over the ex-mercenary. "Don't get used to it!" she admonished him in mild embarrassment.

Billy snickered in the corner, on the same side of the room Carlos sat. "You have no idea how long I have waited for someone to smack this idiot," the ex-convict remarked.

"You're welcome," Stevie replied as Kate ceased her ministrations and moved to stand next to her.

"Now If you don't mind, we'd like to ask you some questions," the older girl added, staring at the two men across the room.

Carlos shrugged. "Eh, fire away."

"What, Is this an interrogation now?" Billy scoffed.

"It's not an interrogation," Kate assured him, speaking a tone she reserved for business, "We just want to see if you know anything that we don't."

"My partner and I have been stumbling around like blind soldiers since we entered, and Delfredi's giving complicated directions," Stevie added, "We could use all the help we could get."

Billy's posture relaxed a little, as if relenting to the explanation. "Okay then, what do you want to know?" he asked.

Kate opened her mouth to ask about Delfredi, but Mattie beat her to the punch. "How long have you guys been stuck here?" she asked, squinting at them through blurred vision.

Billy shrugged. "Can't remember anymore. I was on my own for a long time, then I found an abandoned Umbrella base. Next thing I remember is waking up here."

Mattie nodded, then turned to the ex-Umbrella mercenary. "What about you, Carlos?"

"I came to Europe for some mercenary work," Carlos stated. "I was fighting some weirdos from some organization. They killed my entire team, but I was just knocked out. After that, I woke up in the cell next to him," he added, pointing his thumb back at Billy for emphasis.

Stevie nodded; that information wasn't exactly what they were hoping for, but it was something. "Okay.." she tried, "What happened while you were stuck in here?"

"Some blonde woman would come around every so often and bring us out for 'Playtime'," Billy spoke. He gestured to the leather ring around his neck. "If we attempted to disobey, these little collars would give us a shock."

Stevie stepped forwards and peered at the collars, noticing that the same model was wrapped around Carlos' neck too. There was no visible method of removal, and slicing the collars off with a knife could lead to either of the men getting their jugular veins sliced open. A small black box was positioned at the back of the collar; it was probably the mechanism that controlled the shocks. "Huh," she noted, observing the collar on Carlos, before stepping back. "What exactly do you mean by 'Playtime'?" she asked. "Kate and I have been through our share of that, and let me tell you: it is not fun."

"Most of the time its survival challenges," Carlos explained, leaning forward in his seat, "Strength testing. Making us fight BOWs with only a knife. Sometimes it was just taking blood from us. Kinda odd, now that you think about it.

"Uh-huh," Stevie responded, taking in the information. "What about Delfredi? Know anything about him?"

"Only that he runs this place and has a sick sense of humor," Billy replied, "Never actually seen him. The blonde bitch answers to him, if that helps. Is that enough?"

Stevie nodded. "Yeah...The blonde lady is Veronica, Delfredi's assistant. She's been bothering me and Kate for a while," she added. "Only reason she probably hasn't killed us yet is because Kate's been mildly infected with some weird gas. And If Mattie got caught in the same stuff, then that's probably the reason she's still alive as well."

Mattie looked up from peeking under the bandage on her arm. "Oh, that's nice. Real comforting," she scowled, drawing her friends' attention as she spoke, "As if this whole situation wasn't messed up enough to begin with. That goes double for you, Alfred!"

Kate looked back over to the two confused men on the other side of the room. "Anyway, Stevie and I found a note that said there was Cryo-stasis equipment down here. Do you know anything about that?" she asked.

Carlos shrugged. "Not really, but it probably explains why is it so cold down here sometimes," he said.

"I've heard Delfredi's flunky muttering about something they were keeping in cold storage," Billy answered, "Couldn't hear exactly what."

Kate looked over to her comrades. "Sounds like a logical place to look for clues, then," she concluded.

Stevie nodded. "Alright. We'll go there next."

The two women made for the door. Mattie jumped in between them. "Hold on; what about the guys?" she questioned, grabbing their shoulders for balance, "Should we bring them along as well?"

The girls formed a huddle, leaning forwards so Billy and Carlos couldn't hear. "I dunno. Extra eyes would help, but big group would make it more difficult to move quietly..." Stevie considered.

"True," Kate added, glancing back to Carlos and Billy. "But something about them is making me uneasy, unless I'm wrong and it could just be anxiety."

Stevie cocked her head. "What's on your mind?"

"Thing is," Kate spoke, "even though we know them from the games, I'm not ruling out the possibility that something could have happened in the last several years to make them turn traitor."

` "What?!" Mattie interjected, loud enough to cause Carlos and Billy to look up at them. "But they're on our side!" she whispered.

"Think about it!" Kate pushed, "Nobody's heard from them in years! And the shocks they've been getting- Who knows if it's messed with their heads?!"

"Says the girl whose been hallucinating half the night," Stevie added in an undertone.

"Well, what do you propose we do about them, then?" Mattie asked.

Kate thought for a moment, peeking up at Billy and Carlos to gauge their mindsets. "Keep trying to get information out of them, but be subtle, I think Billy is getting defensive," she ordered. "I'll see if I can find the Cryostasis equipment the note was talking about. There might be something important in there."

"You want some back-up?" Stevie asked.

Kate shook her head. "I don't want to leave any one of us outnumbered by these guys if something DOES happen. You two should stay. Mattie still can't see, and Stevie's already proven herself against Carlos, at any rate." The youngest cadet gave a small chuckle.

"Okay, but what if you run into trouble?" Mattie continued.

"I've got my handgun and knife," Kate assured. "Oh, if you hear any screaming, it's probably me," she added as an afterthought.

Mattie sighed in defeat. "Alright. Be careful, okay?"

The oldest cadet nodded. "You got it," she said.

Kate turned to the door. "Wait!" Stevie interrupted, drawing her comrades' attention, "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this!" She took a piece of white chalk sitting on a nearby blackboard and shoved it towards her quiet friend.

The oldest agent took the offering. "Okay . . . Why do I need chalk?" she asked.

"To mark your way so you don't get lost," Stevie explained, "Oh, and if Excella starts making you miserable again, remind her how she puked up a giant octopus-creature off the coast of Africa. She'll love it."

The older agent nodded. "Good plan," she agreed, "I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise." With that said, Kate slipped out the door, closing it behind her as she went off in search of the lab. The two remaining cadets turned back to Billy and Carlos, wracking their brains for questions to ask.

"So . . . . penguins."

* * *

Jill fell to the floor, ignoring stabs of pain in her ribs every time she gasped for agent looked up at the path in front of her, then turned back. She had lost her pursuers. After a straight-out sprint full of rapid turns that could be likened to the world's jauntiest bumper car ride, she finally allowed herself to stop and rest. The agent's lungs burned from running, but what choice did she have? If she gave up, she'd be murdered at the teeth of Delfredi's pets. And hesitation to pull the trigger could mean her death.

"Damn him!" she cursed under her breath. First it had been Forrest, and now Delfredi had resurrected more old friends. The very thought of their marred appearances made the BSAA agent see red. How many more memories would the madman force her to relive?

Forcing her thoughts aside, Jill ejected the empty clip from her gun. "One full mag left," she thought as she pulled her spare clip from her belt, "I gotta be careful."

Only minutes ago, Jill had stumbled into another warehouse, similar to the first. She received no warning before the 'Playtime' started. The door locked behind her, and more of the zombie doppelgänger appeared, now bearing the faces of Richard Aiken, who had been a dead man walking with Yawn's poison in his veins, and Brad Vickers, whose last seconds were taken by Nemesis itself.

At first sight of the doubles Jill pulled out her handgun and fired at both copies. After a few non-lethal hits, the handgun clicked repeatedly, spewing air as opposed to bullets. Jill hadn't bothered to count her shots. Biting her cheek as the zombies approached her, Jill dove away into the maze of shipping crates. She needed to build a plan, one that would allow her to conserve her bullets. The maze would buy her some time and a decent hiding place.

After three minutes of twisting and turning, Jill found safety among the crates and took stock of her situation. If her bullets ran out and her gun failed her, then she'd have to resort to her knife. "But if Delfredi's made changes to these after what I did to 'Forrest'," she thought bitterly, "How can I be certain my knife will work on these two?"

"I'll just have to make these rounds count," she answered herself, slamming her last clip into the gun.

She head a groan nearby; the copies had found her. Jill waited until the zombies were close, then slipped into a narrow space between two adjacent shipping crates, just wide enough for a group to walk single file. The two zombies tried to enter at the same time, only to end up stuck in place like sheep. This was the opportunity Jill was hoping for. With a cold heart and stony glare, she raised her handgun and fired two perfectly placed shots, felling the zombies in their place.

Jill released a breath that had been held in anticipation; the worst was over. The agent stepped towards the zombies and shoved the corpses out of the way, letting them fall to the floor as she exited the narrow passage.

Jill tentatively kneeled downwards, wary that Delfredi may have programmed the copies to come back to life for 'Round Two'. She turned down the collars of the flak jackets. Sure enough, the same bar code pattern was tattooed on the zombie's necks, the only difference being the codes '00019982' and '00019983' underneath the bar code.

The intercom buzzed on, reminding the female agent that she was being watched. "Well done, Agent Valentine," Delfredi spoke as Jill stood to her feet, "You're coming to terms with the truth far quicker than I anticipated."

The admiration in the madman's voice made the agent want to scream at him at the top of her lungs, but restraint left Jill to glare icily up at the camera. "This is going too far Delfredi," she spat. "What are you up to? What are you planning to do with the Gx-A virus?!"

Delfredi chuckled, making the BSAA agent deepen her scowl. "You've completed your third 'Playtime', so I guess it's fair. I want to rebuild the world, just like _he_ wanted."

Jill's eyes widened. "No... You don't mean like-?!"

"Yes," Delfredi answered, "But the world will be impossible to rebuild unless you destroy it first. That's what Gx-A is for. Humankind's current path to self-destruction is too slow for my liking. I created Gx-A to . . . speed things up a little."

"You'll never succeed, Delfredi," she swore, more to assure her own mind than threaten.

Delfredi chuckled. "Will I?" he taunted over the intercom, "You'll have to find me first."

* * *

Guided by her wits and the light of her flashlight, Kate traversed the tunnels of the prison level, marking turns with the piece of chalk as she built a mental map of the floor's layout; the place was practically a maze, and the last thing she wanted was to get lost. Chills began to set in the quiet agent's limbs as the overhead lights began to flicker. "Stay calm," she tried to reassure herself, "You've been through spots like this before; vendor's hall, remember? And you've still got a flashlight with you." But the flickering lights did little to ease her mind. The only difference in the atmosphere was the lack of goo-leaking corpses scattered on the floor. "Wow," she continued, letting sarcasm take the wheel for a bit, "This must be how déjà vu feels, although this time I don't have to worry about creepy-ass villains popping up around the corner either."

"I beg your pardon?!"

Kate jolted upwards and turned about quickly to search for the intruder, finding no one. The voice had come from her mind again. "Oh, it's just you," she whispered to the obnoxious businesswoman, secretly grateful for another soul to talk to, even if said company was a hallucination. "What sort of psychological blackmail are you going to try on me this time, Excella?"

The disembodied executive chuckled. "Nothing on my part. This one's all on you."

Kate stopped walking. "What do you mean?" the cadet asked sharply; there must have been some detail she had overlooked. "And aren't you supposed to be dead?"

Excella ignored the second question and gave another short laugh. "Look behind you," the executive taunted, "The nightmares come out in the dark."

A monstrous roar echoed up the hallway, drawing Kate's attention to the other end of the hall. She warily turned and scanned the darkness, but even with a flashlight, she was far enough up the hallway that she could see nothing beyond the shadows. The thought made her nervous. As if on command, her mind began completing in the blanks, filling the darkness with figments of the agent's imagination.

As part of their training, Ada had Stevie and Kate play first-person horror games to desensitize them to sudden scares and test their nerves. The training worked well with Stevie, but the monsters from the games lingered in parts of Kate's imagination, even after the training was over. The older girl eventually adopted the mantra "What would Ada do?", repeating it when she found herself in a tough spot.

But the mantra would be of no help now, not when her instincts were screaming at her to run away. "Stop it brain, it's just my imagination..." Kate reminded herself, backing away slowly from the shadows and into the light, unable to look away. She wasn't afraid of the dark itself; what scared her more was-

The light above her blinked out. Kate was suddenly blind, immersed in inky blackness and totally vulnerable until her eyes could adjust. Her breaths became hitched. Shaky fingers fumbled for her flashlight and her handgun. She didn't dare to move; her feet may as well have been frozen to the floor, waiting, anticipating the next scare.

"Better run," Excella coaxed.

Kate didn't need telling twice; her legs kicked into action and she bolted up the other end of the hallway, uncaring her lungs' and muscles' protest at the sudden sprint or the rush of air that whipped and stung her face. She took turns at a skid, not bothering to keep track of where she was going with the chalk. The agent ran until seconds blended together, erasing her sense of time. She only stopped when she hit a wall dead-on, stopping her in her tracks.

The agent stood in place, stunned for several seconds until the initial shock faded. A dull throbbing bloomed in her skull; there would surely be a bruise there later from the impact. Glancing behind her, she allowed her mind to relax upon realizing that the lights had come back on. The surface she had slammed into was freezing cold and solid; metal judging from the texture, and when she tried to pull away her skin stuck to the surface. If the temperature was any indication, the agent had a good idea what was inside. "Looks like I found the Cryo-stasis room," Kate thought, wincing as she pried her face off the cold metal of the door. Once she was free, she took a minute to pull her senses together, not bothering to fix a few locks of hair near her face that had come undone from her ponytail and now framed both sides of her face.

A quick test of the handle proved that it was locked, a glance found the electronic keypad next to it. Kate hooked up her hacking kit, and the door unlocked with a series of clicks as the proper numbers rolled into place. She slipped inside, propping the door open with her foot at the last second; she didn't want this door locking behind her. A quick glance around the room revealed a spare pipe close to Kate's free foot, which she rolled towards her,picked up, and shoved it between the door and its frame. The older agent removed her foot; the door stayed put.

With the door securely propped open, the lone agent began examining the chamber. The entire room was stark white, made shiny by sheets of ice that had formed on the walls. Cold air was being pumped into the room through a metal vent in the ceiling. A single stasis chamber, similar to what she and Stevie had encountered during the first 'Playtime' sat near the back of the small room, surface frozen over with ice crystals. The older agent violently shivered as the cold air hit her skin and raised goosebumps. This was the right place.

Kate rubbed the glass tube with her sleeve, clearing enough of the ice to see the head of the figure inside. "Why hello, Mr. Burnside," she thought, somewhat surprised as she put the familiar face and pumpkin orange hair together, "How in the world did you get all the way down here?"

No sooner as she thought that , the monitors on the equipment next to the chamber lit up. Steam rose from the bottom of the chamber as Steve thawed out. The door slid open as the capsule finished its defrosting sequence. He gave a short moan, then tipped forward.

"Whoa!" Kate reacted as she caught the young man in her arms and guided him to lie on the floor; the guy was just about stiff enough to be a statue, not to mention freezing cold to the touch. "Are you alright?" she asked him. No response. "Of course he wouldn't right away," the cadet thought to herself, "he's still frozen. But he's not moving; this probably isn't good..."

Steve's eyes flickered open as parts of his body began to move. "What the-! where-?" he panicked, interrupting Kate's mental rambling.

"Don't panic," Kate reassured him, "I just released you from cryogenic stasis. I'm not an enemy. You're safe." She paused to catch her breath as Steve began to visibly calm down. "Thank goodness you woke up...I thought I was gonna have to do CPR-"

"You saved me. . . ." Steve spoke wearily, albeit shocked from coming out of deep freeze. He looked back up into the face of his savior. "Claire..."

Kate stopped her rambling. "Huh? I'm not-" she started.

"Some knight in shining armor I am. . . ." Steve muttered. The agent sat stock still and listened. "Claire . . . . I don't think I got to say this earlier...I-" The agent's eyes widened in fear; she knew what was coming next and she didn't deserve it either.

Interrupting his confession, she pulled Steve upwards, slinging one of his arms around her shoulders for support. "No time to talk," she said tersely, "Our friends are waiting."

Steve fell silent. His body gave a quick quiver. "It's so cold . . ." he spoke.

Kate's eyes turned to Steve, finally taking notice that he was bare-chested and swallowed her embarrassment at the realization that the only article of clothing he wore was a pair of shorts. Apparently whoever had placed him down here hadn't bothered to give him proper clothes before freezing him."... Maybe we should find you some clothes, first," she added, trying not to think too long about the fact that his good looks were still intact after years of being frozen.

Now she was glad that she had propped the door open; pushing the heavy door with one free arm would have been difficult if the portal was fully closed. With some difficulty, she shoved the door open far enough for her and Steve to get through, kicking the mock doorstop away when both of their bodies were clear. The door shut behind them, undisturbed.

Once Steve and Kate were long gone, another person approached the room. This person punched the number code in the door and unlocked the room, only to make a grab for her radio as soon as she had a full view of the room. "Sir! We have a problem," she announced.

"What is it, Veronica?" the voice of Delfredi replied.

"The power's come back on in the prison level, but Experiment 00019986-TV his out of his Cryo-Freeze chamber!" the blonde woman replied.

"I noticed," the madman responded. "It looks like one of our guests found him earlier. . . This could be good for our plan."

"Sir?" Veronica replied, wondering how in the world an escaped experiment could be good.

"This 'Playtime' is about to get very interesting. . ."

* * *

"... And that's why I decided to grow this mustache!" Carlos finished his story, much to Stevie and Mattie's entertainment, whereas Billy rolled his eyes, annoyed by his fellow prisoner's behavior. Ever since the quiet girl had left, Carlos and the taller of the two women had talked nearly nonstop about the most mindless things. Thankfully, the other girl, the one who had unlocked his cell door, was fairly serious and stuck to a chair across from the door, despite muttering angry words to the air every four minutes. Aside from that, nothing else had happened, and the ex-convict had never liked waiting.

"Okay, back to business," Stevie concluded, drawing everyone else's attention, "How have you guys managed to stay down here so long without going insane? I'd go stir-crazy in minutes."

"Discipline," Billy answered coldly. "Once you've survived certain horrors once, you know how to deal with them when they come back to haunt you."

Carlos shrugged his shoulders. "I try to absorb the useful things, then forget about everything else, tell myself it's just a bad dream. Just another nightmare."

"And who says we're still sane?" the former marine added.

The blue-eyed agent blinked and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she probed, growing even more curious about the mens' time in their prison cells.

"After the first few shocks, I haven't exactly felt like myself," the tattooed survivor explained, "I've been hearing and seeing things in my cell . . . as if they've found a way out of my nightmares and into reality. Get the picture?"

"What do you see?" Mattie asked calmly.

Billy looked down at the floor. "I assume you've heard about everything that happened with Umbrella." The women nodded. "I keep seeing things from that night;" he explained, "the leeches crawl in, and I hear monsters outside the cell. And I'm powerless to stop them. Until eventually it becomes too much and they just disappear. I hate it."

Stevie and Mattie took in the information. "What about you, Carlos?" the half-blind agent asked, "What do you hear?"

The former Umbrella mercenary shook his head, all cheer gone from his demeanor. "It's nothing important. Just some memories I'd like of get rid of."

"Memories of Raccoon City?"

"No. Long before Raccoon." Stevie and Mattie stared at the ex-mercenary expectantly. "Let's just say that my childhood wasn't very peaceful, okay chicas?" he added, "I'd rather not lay all my cards on the table right now."

Stevie nodded. "We can accept that," she said. Then her face became more serious, "Wait a second." She stepped forward. "Your eyes. How long have they been-?"

"What about our eyes?" Billy asked, stepping forward until he stood directly in front of Stevie. "Tell us now," he ordered.

The agent looked closer. Sure enough, Billy and Carlos' eyes were much, much different from how she and her friends remembered them from the games. The irises had turned gold and the pupil had morphed into narrow slits. "They're yellow," she spoke, " and your pupils have changed. Like a cat's."

"Show me," he commanded.

Stevie searched herself for a reflective surface, coming up with a small rectangular mirror that she used to peek around corners. She gave the glass to Billy. The ex-marine took the mirror and stared into it. The muscles in his face became tense, and his eyebrows slowly furrowed. The longer he stared, the angrier he became, until he finally tore his gaze away and leaned against the room's single table.

"Billy?" Mattie asked, nervously.

The ex-marine responded with a roar, adjusted his grip, and pitched the table at the opposite wall. The unfortunate piece of furniture landed upside down with a violent crash, startling the two women, whereas Carlos sat unfazed.

"Dude...you wanna settle down?" Stevie tried, one hand going for her gun in case the situation got ugly.

"They turned me into a monster..." the former marine growled. The lights flickered briefly, then he stalked off into the darkest corner of the room.

"...Well, that escalated quickly. Best leave him alone for a while chicas," Carlos commented, "Where's your other partner? Shouldn't she be back soon?"

"Yeah... Kate's been gone for a while now. I'm getting nervous," Mattie added. She winced sharply as a pain shot up her bandaged arm; her eyes darted to the nearest corner. "Maybe she isn't coming back at all," she whispered to the air.

Stevie stepped towards her semi-blinded friend, despite feeling a little uneasy herself. "She'll be back," the younger agent reassured. "Kate isn't the kind of person who makes promises she can't keep."

"Alfred doesn't think so." the blind cadet added.

"And are you going to believe that dress-wearing sociopath?" Stevie countered. Mattie fell silent and turned her gaze to the ground. "Let me talk to him. I'll sort this out." The younger agent turned towards the empty corner. "Alright Alfred," Stevie started, "I've had it up to here with you messing with my friend's head, so would you kindly buzz off and haunt someone else already?! You don't scare anyone." She paused to catch her breath.

"...Stevie."

"What is it?"

"You just ranted at a wall," Mattie replied before pointing at the corner closest to the door, "He's over there, smirking at you."

Stevie gave up and rolled her eyes at the ceiling. "Great," she muttered to herself, "turns out I'm the sanest person in this whole group. We might as well be circling a black hole made of trouble."

Everyone fell silent afterwards. Time passed, then a few short, quick taps sounded at the door, signaling Kate's return. Mattie and Stevie rushed to the door, throwing it open for their friend. Their eyes widened when they saw who accompanied her.

"Is that-!?" Mattie started, squinting at her friend's new companion.

Kate nodded. "Yes, help me get him into a chair," she ordered, hefting Steve higher into her shoulder, "He's heavier than he looks." Stevie took the semi-conscious man's other arm, guiding him and his crutch to a nearby chair. Kate did manage to find him a spare prison uniform, so he wasn't shivering as much as he was earlier. Once they set him in, the questions started again.

"What's up with him?" Carlos started, peering over at the new arrival, "He is not lookin' well, amigos"

"I found him in Cryo-stasis," Kate explained. "Good news, he seems willing to cooperate. Bad news, he's a little addled from being frozen."

"How addled are we talking?" Stevie asked.

Kate pulled Stevie and Mattie into another huddle. "He doesn't remember anything since Antarctica!" the older girl whispered, "He thinks I'm Claire!"

"Good!" Stevie whispered back, "We can use that to keep him on our side!"

"Can he walk?" Billy suddenly spoke. The agents turned their heads to see the convict appear out of the corner, having regrouped himself after his little episode with the table.

Kate quickly checked Steve's condition. The younger man was still loopy, but his strength was beginning to return. "I think so," she answered, "I had to support him on the way back here, but I think he can make it by himself."

"Good. I want to get out of here, NOW," Billy declared, "I wouldn't be surprised if the rest of us were thinking the same thing."

"Slight problem with that, man," Stevie added, stepping forward, "You never said exactly how we could get out."

"There's some stairs around here that take us out of this level," Carlos explained, "Billy and I know where they are."

"It's the route the blonde bitch took us when we were brought out for 'Playtime'," Billy added.

Stevie glanced around the room, taking stock of the travel party. Finding a way out would be a nightmare without Billy and Carlos' route, not to mention it would be difficult to get Steve and Mattie up the stairs she and Kate had taken, and on top of that the door that led into the 2nd 'Playtime' was sealed shut. The dark-haired agent turned to her partner, looking for her opinion. Kate gave a short nod in agreement. "Well, we can't exactly go back the way we came," the blue-eyed agent decided aloud. "We'll take your way."

**AN: Don't forget to review! **


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Short-ish chapter this time (if you call 11 pages 'short'), for the sake of a good stopping point. I was definitely writing and developing ideas for another fandom while doing this (Rise of the Guardians, if anyone is interested). Mostly because I need something lighter to write every once in a while to balance out the seriousness. Also, college keeps me busy. College will eat up your time and energy like nobody's business. I'm not kidding. I'm studying my tail off this semester so I can keep my scholarship.**

**I'd like to thank the people who reviewed last chapter. It's nice to know that even though I can't post as often as I used to, people are still sticking around to appreciate my work. A huge thank you to SaiyanEpicness, Johnclaw Dragonhelm-Kitengreen, and anyone else I may have forgotten!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. Non-canon characters are my responsibility. Except for Delfredi, he was spawned from jedispartan217's imagination.**

The group moved out into the hallway. Billy took the lead as his eyes adjusted to the tunnels. "Okay," he warned the three women as they came out behind Carlos, "Follow us if you don't feel like getting lost. If you fall behind, it's your own damn loss."

With that said, he turned and began walking. "Sheesh. Little rough around the edges, isn't he?" Kate whispered to her friends as she helped a slightly woozy Steve get feeling back in his legs again.

"The guy's been in prison for the last several years; I can't blame him for getting cranky," Stevie replied. "How are you holding up, No-Eyes?"

Mattie staggered behind Kate. "I still can't see very well," she replied, holding her arms in front of her as she walked forward, "And don't call me names!"

Stevie gave a small smile. "Here, cling to me," she instructed, moving one of Mattie's hands to the back straps of her uniform's protective vest, "We don't want you getting lost when we've come all this way to rescue you. Rest your eyes for now. The scenery is gonna get much brighter when we're out of this place."

Mattie grabbed the vest and cast her eyes to the ground. ". . . I guess I'm not the brave soldier you guys thought I'd be, huh?" she said sadly.

"Don't cut yourself down like that," Stevie reassured her, "You've been ridiculously patient so far. Which reminds me: Parker says 'Thanks for saving my skin from the Hunters!' And who says you're a bad soldier, anyway?"

"Alfred."

"Well he's a cross-dressing pansy; what would he know about soldiering?"

Mattie gave a small laugh, a relieved smile crossing her face. "At least I have some peace knowing Parker made it out alright," she commented.

"Eyup!" Stevie added, "And Piers is holding down the fort until we get back to HQ."

The half-blind cadet raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked quizzically, "I thought he'd come along with you guys, seeing as how Chris and I went MIA in the same area."

"The BSAA still has him on forced leave after Edonia," Stevie explained. "Guy looks like a wreck. I heard he was glad to see you when he and Chris got out of that war zone, though."

"Yeah, he was..." Mattie agreed, then her voice became solemn. "Many unforgivable things happened that day in Edonia."

"Afraid so," the blue-eyed cadet added.

"That's why we have to find Chris," a third, softer voice joined in.

Stevie flinched and whipped her head around, only to find Kate appear at her side. "When did you sneak over here?!"

"Steve seems to be back to his senses and can walk without my help," the older cadet explained. "I managed to distract him and slip away. He's Carlos' problem now."

"Stop asking me for food, loco!" Carlos spoke, not too far ahead of the girls, "I told you I don't have anything!"

"But I'm starving!" Steve whined.

"Hey, would you two shut up?" Billy admonished them, "We don't need the extra noise."

Mattie and Kate shared a short giggle. "Sucks to be them, now," the calmer agent spoke with an amused grin, only to clamp her eyes shut and shudder a second afterward.

"You okay, buddy?" Stevie asked tentatively.

Kate shook her head and looked back up at her friends. "I think I'm fine," she said, "But Excella's getting a little aggressive. I think she's prodding at my psyche." The older agent flinched again and hissed in discomfort. "Or she's just trying to give me a migraine. And I really need to stop giving her ideas, curse my imagination."

"What should I do about Alfred?" Mattie asked, leaning towards her friends so they could hear, "He won't leave me alone."

"Rule #1," the older woman replied, "Know your enemy. Try to respond in ways that make him think it's not worth the energy to bother you. I tried that with Excella earlier, but it seems like she's busted through that strategy." Kate hissed again as another ache pounded against her skull. "What I'm suggesting is, 'Don't give him anything to exploit'. If he can't do that, Alfred might stop bothering you."

"But he always tries! No matter what I do!" the half-blind cadet responded, a clear note of desperation creeping into her voice. "I-I just want-" A sharp jolt of pain flew up the Mattie's arm, interrupting her sentence with a pained shout as she grasped the bandaged limb.

"Mattie! You alright?!" Stevie asked, her words going unheard as the blind cadet gasped in pain. "What do we do?"

"I don't know! " Kate replied under her breath, "I'm running out of ideas! There's gotta be something we can do to help her."

Stevie gave a short, frustrated growl. "C'mon Mattie. Think about something else!" she tried.

"I-I'm trying!" the distressed agent replied. "Gotta think . . . Chris. . . Jill . . you guys . . . Quint, Keith, Parker, Piers . . . Piers..."

"Just hang in there, Mattie. Don't listen to anything Alfred says to you," Kate instructed, only to clench her eyes shut and grit her teeth in frustration. "Just stop already, Excella," the older cadet warned, "You're really beginning to get on my nerves. . . . I'm- I'm not powerless! I'm doing the best I can!"

Stevie turned to her other comrade. "Ah great, not you too! Stay with me, Kate!" she urged, grasping her other companion by the shoulders.

"Keep the noise down!" Billy scolded, "Do you want them to find us!?"

"Not a good time, dude!" Stevie snapped back.

A few more seconds passed and Mattie began to relax. The cadet reopened her eyes, glancing about her before releasing a large sigh. "He- he's gone..." She said, a soft smile crossing her face. "I guess Piers is looking out for me, somehow."

"I wouldn't be surprised if he does," Stevie commented.

Kate sighed in relief. "Glad that's over with," she added, "Now how do I get Excella off my case? It's getting awfully obnoxious." She turned her eyes elsewhere. " . . . well so is your face," the bespectacled cadet replied to her invisible tormentor.

"Don't think about anything bad," Mattie instructed. "Think of someone- er, someTHING that makes you happy. That's what I did," she added, turning away from her comrades so they wouldn't notice the faint shade of pink that appeared on her cheeks.

The oldest of the three sighed again, this time trying to relax. "Okay, happy place, where's my happy place?" Kate said to herself. Within seconds, a serene smile spread across her face as well. "There it is."

Stevie chuckled at her friends' behavior. "Oi, don't start zoning out on us, now," she reminded, nudging an elbow into Kate's ribs for good measure, earning a semi-annoyed glare from her comrade in retaliation.

Mattie gave a short laugh, a bright sound the other two thought they would never hear in the darkness. "There are the two weirdos I know, which reminds me!" She grabbed her two companions and pulled them towards her, wrapping them in a tight bear hug on either side.

Kate let out a small, pleased squeak of contentment at the sudden affection, whereas Stevie choked out a series of groans. "Ow, . . .Mattie. .. . those are my bones!" the blue-eyed cadet whined, squirming as she tried to escape her friend's grasp.

"Huh?" The half-blind cadet murmured, blinking at her friends in confusion before she realized how hard she was squeezing them. "Oh! Sorry! Sorry!" she apologized, setting both of them gently back down.

Stevie groaned, checking her ribs for bruises. "Blimey, Mattie, have you been working out down here?" she inquired. Her eyes widened as they fell on the limb that had held her. "Wait a sec, that arm's your bad-"

"Ay, chicas. We're here," Carlos' voice interrupted, drawing the trio's attention. The men had stopped moving. Up ahead of them was a corridor as wide as the hall, with a staircase leading up. "She always took us up through here," the ex-convict spoke, "Hopefully no one is waiting for us at the top."

With that said, the group began to ascend the stairs, gazing upwards, searching for the end. Within seconds, a strip of white appeared above their heads, growing bigger and bigger as they moved up. Soon they were at the top, forced to squint as they surveyed the bright space before them. The room was shaped like a gladiator's arena, even with a darkened viewing window near the ceiling. A series of open corridors lined the right-hand side of the room; these were probably sealed off when Billy and Carlos' 'Playtime' came around, Stevie mused. The party crossed the threshold, only to hear their enemy's voice overhead.

"Ah, it looks like my 'Playtime" is no match for you," Delfredi greeted them over the intercom, "Your minds and wills are stronger than I anticipated. You even accepted the help of strangers. Having fun yet?"

"Fun?" Billy spat, glaring up at the viewing window. "You locked us up and put these collars on us! Just what the hell have you done?!"

Delfredi laughed. "You'll find out in good time," he replied, "In the meanwhile, a little birdie told me that you broke the rules."

"WHAT?" Stevie erupted angrily, her voice bouncing around the room.

"Impossible. We've followed your rules to the letter!" Kate asserted, adding her voice to the echo.

"Oh, you must have misunderstood me," Delfredi mocked. The women grew quiet. "You spoke amongst each other during the third 'Playtime'. That's against the rules. You were supposed to be silent from the 2nd 'Playtime' onward."

"That's bull!" Stevie shouted, her voice echoing around the room. "How do you know we even spoke!? I didn't see any of your cameras down there!"

Delfredi chuckled at the outburst. "True, I couldn't see you. But Veronica did."

"She must have been spying on us," Kate muttered in an undertone.

"Of course she'd snitch," her taller partner growled in reply.

"Since you two broke the rules," Delfredi continued, "I have no choice but to make your 'Playtime' harder."

The two women opened their mouths to retaliate, only to be interrupted by harsh grunts and gasps behind them. They whirled their heads around to find Billy and Carlos bent over, grasping at their chests as unfamiliar shapes appeared and crawled under their skin.

"Billy! Carlos! Are you guys okay?!" Mattie shouted to them.

"What do you think?! Do we look okay?!" Billy growled back.

Carlos fell to his knees, panting for breath. "Hurry!" he grunted, "Before he gets you too!"

"What's going on?! Guys?!" Mattie asked, squinting her eyes trying to see clearly.

Another set of groans sounded, this time from Steve. The agents looked to him to see him stare at his hands as a familiar green tint covered his skin. "No . . . Not this again," he murmured under his breath, then looked up at the girls. "You have to get out of here! Hurry!"

Three fountains of blood erupted all at once, accompanied by shouts of pain as red painted the floor. Billy and Carlos' skin took on a sickly yellow tint and stretched in unnatural ways as limbs extended. With a painful shout, several spikes pierced through their clothes, growing larger and taller as the fabric was ripped to scraps.

"Wha-what's happening!?" Mattie cried, her voice shaky with fear as she stepped away from the pools of blood that formed on the ground.

"I hope you enjoy my version of 'Hide-and-seek'," Delfredi taunted from above, "Don't die too early now."

The agents' attention snapped back to the men when the intercom clicked off. "Hurry! You have to go!" Steve urged, groaning in pain as his limbs grew longer, adding to his height. He looked up and met two sets of shocked eyes. "Claire! Get your friends out of here!"

"Steve-!" Kate began.

Billy and Carlos' heads whipped around at the sound of her voice, revealing red, animalistic eyes. " You have to go! I'll keep them off you! Go!" Steve urged as he stepped between the women and the monsters, "Go now!"

The oldest cadet stood stunned, unable to believe what she was seeing. "Kate! C'mon!" she heard someone yell. The bespectacled agent snapped back to reality to find Stevie appear next to her with Mattie in tow. "We can't fight them! This way!" the taller female urged, gesturing to the open corridors.

The three women sprinted into the one of the side passages, and while it took a while for their eyes to adjust to the lack of light, they kept running. "Turn left!" Stevie warned, giving enough time to keep her semi-blind friend from crashing into a wall. Once they were in, a roar echoed in the passage behind them. It was close. The monsters were coming after them.

As she and her friends ran, Kate dared to glance behind, her brain working overtime thanks to adrenaline. The passage was narrow, but one explosion in the right spot...

The older cadet skidded to a stop and turned back towards the intersecting path. "Kate! What in the world are you doing?!" Stevie shouted to her.

"Go on ahead! I got an idea to slow 'em down!" the older agent urged. As her friends vanished into the corridor, Kate took a grenade from inside her harness and looped a finger around the pin. Another roar echoed into the corridor, this time from closer inside.

There was no time to hesitate. She pulled the pin, dropped the grenade, and sprinted back up the passage, aiming to put as much space between herself and the impending explosion.

_BLAM!_

The following shock of air forced the bespectacled agent to the ground, only for her to get back up and continue her wild sprint, hearing a pained roar behind her as pieces of rubble fell from the ceiling and filled the doorway of the passage. The rocks continued falling until the doorway was solidly blocked. Nothing could get past it without bringing more rocks upon their head. Not even Tyrants.

Kate took one last look at the barrier. Satisfied, she grinned wildly as she timed her breaths and jogged further into the shadowed corridor.

She found Stevie and Mattie leaning against a wall. "Hey, you're back," Stevie greeted wearily, supporting Mattie by volunteering to be a mock crutch.

"Are you guys all right?" Kate asked as she slowed to catch her breath. "Status report."

"I think I twisted my ankle earlier, but other than that, we're fine," Mattie stated, "What was that blast we heard earlier?"

Before the other agent could answer, Delfredi's voice came on over the intercom, unleashing an enraged growl before speaking. "You're ruining everything! My test subjects subdued by traps, my prisoner gone, and you still refuse to understand what I am trying to do! I'll make sure you pay-!" Hacking coughs cut off the speech. "V-Veronica! Veronica! Where are my pills! -"

"Pills...?" Mattie repeated, squinting up into the darkness for the source of the madman's voice.

"Sounds like this guy has a weakness," Stevie added under her breath.

Delfredi's voice came back. "Bah! I've- had it with you! Don't you ever tire of foiling me!?" His words were spaced by heaving breaths, "You must understand what I am working towards! Don't you get it?! The past will always come back to haunt you! You can only rely on yourselves! The world needs to change so the future can be better! Join me, or you can never be a part of it!" A metallic crash sounded through the speaker. "Sir! Your voice modulator!" Veronica's frantic voice sounded. Delfredi gave a low growl, and the intercom shut off.

"Well, at least we lost the monsters," Kate noted, taking one last glance at the rubble pile.

Stevie sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Now we gotta find a way out of here. Otherwise you just single-handedly doomed us all." She licked one of her fingers and held it to the air. "...There's a breeze. Smell that? Fresh air. Or at least cleaner air. We should be able to get out of this corridor."

Mattie slunk against the wall, hitting the floor with a soft 'thud'. "I'm exhausted. What time is it?" she asked.

Kate checked her watch. She saw the numbers, but didn't want to acknowledge how long she'd been awake. "Early morning," she replied, opening one of her pockets. After a little digging around, she unearthed a protein bar and a half-empty bottle of water. "Here. It's no chicken dinner, but it's what we've got," she said, offering the nourishment to Mattie, who gratefully accepted.

"Never thought I'd be glad to see one of these bricks again," the rescued cadet commented in a sarcastic tone. Nevertheless, she ripped the packaging open and starting gnawing on the protein bar.

"I think we should rest until we get some of our strength back," the older agent suggested to Stevie, "My adrenaline stores are depleted."

The taller cadet nodded in agreement. "How long do you think Delfredi going to keep this up?" she asked.

Kate sighed and slid down the wall to sit next to Mattie. "If he wanted us dead or as test subjects, he'd have done worse by now," she deduced, "Something tells me he's playing with us. He wants to be found, and he wants us to face him. If that's what's going to happen, we'll need as much energy as we can get."

"I don't get it," Mattie added, "If he wants to be found, then why make you go through his 'Playtime'?"

The older girl exhaled deeply. "My guess, he's wants to see if we're worthy opponents," she said, "He won't bother coming out if we give up or go insane, whichever comes first,"

"That's not gonna happen," Stevie added before walking a short ways into the passage ahead. "You guys rest up."

"But-!" Mattie started.

"No buts!"

The half-blind agent's eyes hardened. "I want to help," she insisted.

"And what about you? Aren't you tired as well?" Kate added.

"You guys under much more mental stress than I am," the blue-eyed agent said, "At least no one's entered my brain. I'll keep guard. We'll switch off after an hour or two. Some sleep is better than none. And considering what just happened, this might be the most peace we get for a while."

Kate nodded. "Alright." She turned to Mattie as Stevie walked off. "You holding up okay?" she asked.

"My arm still hurts," Mattie groaned as she shifted against the wall.

"We should check to make sure it hasn't gotten worse," the long-haired cadet suggested. "May I?"

Mattie rolled her eyes and begrudgingly stretched her bad arm towards Kate. "You sure we're safe here?" the semi-blind cadet asked.

"I doubt they can get to us through that rubble. And the smell of gunpowder should have thrown them off our scent," the older cadet explained as she began unwinding the bandages, "But still, we better not make too much noise. I don't know if their hearing's improved."

"Okay."

Kate examined her friend's arm carefully. It was difficult to see in the dim light, but she could see enough without a flashlight. "It hasn't spread. I'll take that as good news," the calm agent said as she started winding the bandages back up her friend's arm.

"Do you think there's a cure?" Mattie asked.

The older agent bowed her head for a moment, unwilling to speak her mind. "I don't know," she admitted, "If we can find Delfredi's notes, the BSAA scientists might be able to do something-" The brunette woman's train of thought ground to a halt upon seeing a solemn, grave look cross Mattie's features. "Hey. . ." Kate spoke, grabbing hold of her friend's shoulder, grasping it gently as not to cause pain. "We're not letting this infection beat you without a fight. Okay?" the bespectacled agent tried to reassure her, "You know what we're gonna do? We're going to do everything we can to make sure this thing doesn't hurt you anymore than it has. Alright?"

Mattie nodded and looked into her comrade's eyes. "I just hate feeling so helpless," she replied with a small shrug, "And I really wish Piers was here right now."

Kate sighed. "I don't like being helpless either. But we need to rest," she whispered, "We'll need our strength for whatever Delfredi throws at us."

"Alfred's been quiet for a while now," Mattie added. "Do you think he's gone for good?"

"More likely biding his time," the older woman commented, "Come to think of it, Excella's left me alone for a while too. I've been waiting for her to reappear for some time now; it's like Chinese water torture."

Mattie chuckled. "Alright. Nighty night," she said, moving down to lie next to her friend's side.

With her friend falling asleep, Kate's thoughts turned inwards. "What was I thinking?! Freezing up like that earlier?!" she silently admonished herself, "I could've died once already in the tunnels, and now it happened in front of BOWs! Stupid! Stupid! . . . Maybe I'm not cut out to be a field agent; there are so many reasons why. Breaking orders was a bad idea." Her thoughts turned to the room she and her friends had fled from. "I hope Steve's alright. Sure, he's mutated before. But . . ." Even with his own mutation, Billy and Carlos had still dwarfed him by comparison. Who knew if he was able to hold them off without getting hurt himself? The oldest cadet blinked tears away from her eyes. In the short time they had traveled in the tunnels of the prison level, she had already become somewhat attached to Steve Burnside; she didn't want his death on her conscience. Nevertheless, there wasn't anything else she could do now, except to rest and conserve her energy. With that in mind, the bespectacled cadet leaned against the wall, letting her head fall forward as she closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, Stevie stood steadfast in front of the camp, watching the hall should anything come up. "This is too much," she decided, "Any civilian would give up by now, but that's not an option. We have no choice but to move forward." She glanced back at her companions, finding them in the throes of restful sleep. "Jill's a strong soldier. I know she can tough this out. But the others . . . I'm beginning to fear for their mental states. Seeing Billy and the others change into monsters in front of them was a serious scare. Even I'm beginning to think this whole thing is a little hopeless. We'd better find Jill soon."

One by one, their minds fell silent. And all they could do was rest and wait.

**AN: Don't forget to review! It lets me know that people are still reading and enjoying this story.**


	12. Chapter 12

AN: Hi everyone! It's been a busy several weeks, seeing as I'm almost near the end of the school year. In fact I'm just about to go into finals! I feel lucky to be able to put this out before I leave college for the summer. But when summer comes, I'll have plenty of time to get this story done! I've only got three more chapters to write, ya know!

Speaking of which: How would you people feel if I made this series a trilogy? I've been tossing around ideas and sketches with JediSpartan217. Depending on how what you think, I'll give some more priority to write it.

I got two reviews last time. One from Sarah Victoria Cullen (thank you SVC!), and one from a Guest. Whoever you were Guest, I think most of your message got cut off because I only got two words. So I'll try to interpret what I can.

To Guest: I wish I could update faster, but college life often leaves me with little time and energy to write. I'm not being lazy, just busy. I usually end up not writing for a few days, then writing huge chunks of story when I find time and/or inspiration.

Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil, or its characters, or any pop culture references made in this chapter. I am responsible for non-canon characters other than Delfredi and Veronica. Those two belong to my co-writer, JediSpartan217.

* * *

Kate stood guard over the campsite, eyes focused on the corridor in front of her, checking back every once in a while to see if her friends were all right. Stevie had dropped off pretty quick once it was time to switch guard duty, and Mattie hadn't moved when much at all since they stopped. The entire area was quiet as a tomb, perfect for noticing anything out of the ordinary. Every so often a breeze would come down the hallway, sweetening the still air. Nothing had occurred since the trio got away from the monstrous forms of Billy, Steve, and Carlos. Even Excella's disembodied voice had been absent from Kate's mind. The quiet agent hoped that the mystery gas had finally worn off, but she knew better than to get her hopes up, and it would be a bit much to ask for the current situation to stay peaceful as it was.

The bespectacled cadet checked her watch. 5AM. The group had stopped at about 3AM. Kate had slept for an hour, then Stevie woke her up to switch guard duty. Which meant that both of them would be functioning on one hour of sleep. They let Mattie have two hours given her recent stint in captivity. But now it was about time for them to get a move on.

Kate turned back to the camp and gently grasped Stevie by the shoulder, shaking her awake. "Wake up. We've been resting long enough."

Stevie's blue eyes blinked open with a groan. "Is it time already?"

"'fraid so."

"Alright, alright." The younger cadet turned to her sleeping companion. "C'mon Mattie. Wakey wakey."

"... Is it an emergency?" the other girl groaned.

"Not really."

Mattie's eyes blinked open and she sat up, letting her short hair hang in her face for a few seconds before brushing it to the side. Stevie and Kate smiled at the sight. Even after years apart, some things still never changed. "C'mon. Let's go," the oldest of the three reminded them.

The group continued up the corridor, making no noise save for soft footsteps and their own breathing. After a couple minutes' walk, the corridor changed direction, branching to the left. Then the echoes started, and a feminine voice bounced off the walls, sobbing.

"You guys hear that too?" Stevie asked. Mattie and Kate nodded in the dim light. "Good. I'd rather not be hallucinating."

The three agents peered up the corridor, seeking the source of the voice, but their eyes were greeted by the glare of another white room waiting at the end of the passage. "I think that voice is from someone up ahead," Mattie whispered, still squinting in the low light.

"Yeah..." Kate replied, "...I sense it too." With a quick signal from each other's eyes, Stevie and Kate pulled their handguns from their belts and pointed them forward. They were NOT going to be caught unarmed this time around.

The three agents crept forward. The end of the passage became closer and closer as they approached, and the echoing voice became clearer. "Let me in!" the voice echoed, and Stevie and Kate exchanged looks, recognizing the owner of said voice. Nevertheless, the group pressed on with Mattie bringing up the rear.

The trio reached the threshold of the passageway and stopped, their eyes catching sight of a certain blonde on the far side of the room, pounding on a metal door. Given her current preoccupation, she had yet to notice the their presence.

Stevie silently began to aim her handgun, only for a hand to reach out and tap the barrel down. The younger cadet glanced over to see Kate slowly shake her head, then signaled with her eyes towards their foe. Something was different about the atmosphere. Something wrong.

"Dr. Delfredi! Please open the door!" Veronica pleaded, pounding the metal with a closed fist before jiggling the doorknob. "Dr. Delfredi! Let me in!"

A nearby intercom speaker crackled to life. "Sorry Veronica, but you've already served your purpose. You're not needed anymore," Delfredi's voice responded, this time clear and smooth instead of warped.

Veronica's eyes widened as she backed away, staring up at the speaker as if it just delivered a death sentence. "W-What?!" she cried out, "Please sir! I've done so much! You said I would earn a place in the world with you once we were done! You promised!"

Delfredi laughed, and a look of pure horror crossed Mattie's face. "Yes, and I thank you for all your hard work. But sadly, ruling the world is a one man job," he finished before the intercom silenced itself.

"Dr. Delfredi!" Veronica shouted again, pounding on the door one last time. Giving up, she whirled around to meet the trio's faces. "You!" She whipped out her handgun and pointed it at them. Stevie and Kate raised their own weapons in response."How dare you show your faces here!"

"Hey! We have nothing to do with your problem, lady!" Stevie called back, "Now what the hell is going on?!"

"Guys..." Mattie muttered behind , "I recognize that voice..."

"That's Delfredi's assistant," Stevie hissed under her breath, "She's been spying on us all night."

Mattie shook her head. "No . . . Not hers..." she whispered.

A faint rumble echoed from the tunnel, as if thunder was on the approach. Kate risked a glance backward, remembering to keep Veronica in her peripherals. Her instincts screamed "danger", but the others had yet to notice. "Uh, everyone . . . we might want to move soon," she warned, her eyes switching between the woman, her comrades and the rumbling corridor.

"Why should I? I've been ruined!" Veronica cried out, the gun shaking in her hands.

The rumbling became louder. Before either of her friends could respond, Kate shouted out. "INCOMING!" she barked, shoving Stevie and Mattie out of the doorway before diving out of the way herself.

It was too fast to comprehend. One of the mutated tyrants charged into the room, taking chunks of stone out of the doorway with its claws.

Veronica screamed and immediately started shooting, bullets flying as they were spat towards the monster. The monster charged directly for her, clawed limb outstretched. With a sickly, moist squelch followed by rending metal, the gun dropped from Veronica's hands, followed by small waterfalls of blood. A peek of dark brown hair and gleaming silver tags hanging from one of the claws allowed the agents to identify the monster in front of them.

The three women stared at the scene with wide eyes in silent alarm. "Well. . . . That's one problem out of the way," Kate whispered as 'Billy' withdrew his claws, allowing Veronica's body to slump to the ground. "Now we got a bigger, angrier one to deal with."

"Yeah," Stevie whispered in agreement, nodding her head as she came to her senses, "Let's get out of here before it sees us!"

"Guys! Didn't you notice Delfredi's voice! It sounded like-!" Mattie started.

"No time to stop and check!" Stevie urged, "Move!"

The agents wasted no time. They bolted for the door at the side of the room, quickly finding that it was unlocked. Stevie herded Kate and Mattie through the portal before entering herself, pulling the door shut and dead-bolting it behind her. Before they could take a breath, a thundering sound erupted on the other side of the door, forcing the girls to jump back. Billy was trying to get in. "Run!" the blue-eyed agent called out. The group wasted no time in sprinting away. But this wouldn't be the last time they would have to run for their lives.

* * *

Jill had lost track of how long she had been awake. The adrenaline rush from fighting was dying down, and sleep deprivation was beginning to take its toll. She had lost track of how many turns she had taken through the facility's twisted halls, rendering the mental map she had created useless. The battle-hardened agent's limbs now ached from exertion, her eyes threatened to droop closed. She knew that sleep deprivation was dangerous, but there was no time to sleep; she had already wasted hours wandering the facility.

"Jill! Jill!" Great, now she was hallucinating voices, accompanied by what sounded like the pitter-patter of rapid footfalls. The female agent whirled around, inspecting her surroundings. Nothing. Minor hallucinations had been one of the many symptoms described in the BSAA's medical pamphlets. She wouldn't be surprised if the timing was right on the mark, too. "Jill!" the voices called again, this time sounding closer than before. "Jill!"

Jill couldn't ignore the noise anymore. She turned around, only to see three familiar bodies rushing toward her. "There you are! Is everything alright?" she asked, holstering her weapon as the cadets came close.

"We found Mattie," Kate reported quickly, slowing to stop before gasping for breath.

"But now there are even bigger monsters running around here!" Stevie added as she dragged Mattie to a stop, "And we still haven't seen Chris!"

"Status report!" Jill ordered.

After several gasps, Stevie was finally able to catch her breath. "Traumatized, but okay," the younger agent reported, "except Kate inhaled some weird gas and started hearing the voice of Excella in her head. It's been like that for several hours, actually."

Mattie stepped forward next. "After I sent Parker to safety, the same stuff Kate was hit with came out of the fire sprinklers. I passed out and woke up in a prison cell hearing voices as well. My equipment has been confiscated and I've sustained an infection in my left arm."

Jill took in the information. "Damn it . . ." she said, "Delfredi's been working on something called Gx-A. Both of you are probably infected with it. We'll try to figure out something."

"From what Delfredi's assistant told us while using Kate as a guinea pig, the side effects these two have aren't the worst that can happen," Stevie warned, "People with more severe infections have yellow eyes. It apparently also turns people into Tyrants."

"Then we have to make sure Gx-A doesn't get out of this building," Jill confirmed.

"Jill," Mattie added, her voice deathly serious, "I can also report that Chris is definitely here."

Jill turned to her student and began a barrage of questions. "How do you know?"

"He rescued me just before I lost consciousness."

"Was this the last time you saw him?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Have you talked to anyone since you woke up here?"

"Aside from Alfred, I also spoke to Delfredi's assistant. She just got murdered, so we're outta luck there. There were some other test subjects that we freed, but they've mutated into Tyrants."

Jill raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Who's Alfred?"

"Hallucination," Stevie silently mouthed. Thankfully Jill was good at reading lips and understood.

"Aside from that, not much else to report. Care to fill me in?" Mattie requested.

"Delfredi created something called the Gx-A virus," Jill quickly explained, "He plans to start a global outbreak."

"Sounds an awful lot like Wesker, if you ask me," her student commented.

"He's been here for a while," Jill added, "and this is the area where Chris' last known coordinates were recorded. I wouldn't be surprised if Chris had a run-in with our personal terrorist."

"Wait, hold on a sec..." Stevie interrupted, a hint of impatience in her voice, "He had coordinates? We had coordinates this whole time and you haven't told us yet?!"

"The BSAA was able to track him to this building," Jill explained, "A tracer was placed on him before Edonia, in case emergency evac was needed; it was most likely disabled once he got here. If Chris is here, someone doesn't want us to find him."

"Speak of the devil . . ." The other members of the team turned to Kate. The other girl had been quiet the whole time, letting the others talk, but now her eyes were fixed on something down the hall. The others followed her gaze, landing on a tall, slumped shadow, barely visible, coming towards them. The figure moved slowly, as if limping.

"Is it him?" Mattie whispered, squinting down the corridor.

Jill stared into the shadows, examining the figure. The body type was the same as Chris, and the silhouette looked similar enough, but Jill could not dispel the knot of worry that appeared in her gut. "It looks like him, but something's off," she decided, "Be ready."

The figure came closer and stepped into the dim light cast overhead, revealing its features. Messy brown hair. Broad shoulders. Dirt-stained BSAA fatigues. 5 o'clock shadow. Everything about him screamed Chris, but the details did nothing to soothe Jill. The trio of cadets watched him too, unaware of their leader's doubts.

Mattie was the first to speak up. "...Chris?" she asked. A dull, rattling moan echoed up the hall in response, chilling the agents' bones down to the marrow.

"No . . . " Jill breathed, eyes wide in horror. " . . . Delfredi got him. He's a zombie."

A choking sob erupted from Mattie's throat. "Chris . . ." she wept, tears sliding down her cheeks as she stared. Stevie and Kate stood silent, holding back emotions in favor of focus as they unholstered their guns, ready to point them at their former companion.

Jill forced herself to swallow her grief, staring coldly at the approaching monster as she aimed her handgun. "I'm sorry, Chris," the survivor apologized as she placed her finger on the trigger.

"No!" Mattie cried out.

In that moment, the corpse of Chris Redfield leapt towards the clustered cadets.

A shot was fired, and the zombie fell to the ground, blood gently pooling around the hole in his head.

"Chris!" Mattie shouted as she broke away from her friends, falling to a kneel at the corpse's side.

"Stand down Mattie!" Jill ordered, coming to stand above the corpse."There's nothing else we could have done!

"What about a funeral?!" her protegé objected, turning to look at her mentor through red, puffy eyes, "We owe him that much!"

"We don't have time for a funeral!" Stevie argued, "We have to find Delfredi and get out!"

Kate stood by and let the others argue. The dispute was messy enough without more people getting involved. Instead, she let her eyes roam over the corpse in front of her, stopping at a suspicious mark under the zombie's shirt collar. "Jill," the older cadet spoke, grabbing the older woman's attention, "Did Chris ever have a tattoo on his neck?"

"What?" Jill knelt near the corpse's head and pulled down the back of 'Chris's' shirt for a better look. She sighed deeply, for once glad to see the familiar bar code tattoo and serial number inked in the soft skin. "It's not Chris. It's another clone."

"Clones?" Stevie asked, a bemused look on her face, "What are you talking about, Jill?"

"Delfredi's been making me fight copies of people from my past," the female survivor explained, before turning to walk back up the hall. "That body is a fake. We need to keep moving."

Mattie's face brightened as she stood. "So Chris is okay!" she said, a relieved smile spread across her face.

"For now" Jill replied as the others caught up to her. "But finding and arresting Delfredi should be our first priority."

"Delfredi. . ." Kate muttered, thinking to herself quietly. Then her eyes widened. "Wait a minute..." She pulled one of the memos she had saved out of a pocket, stared at it, then began pointing her finger in the air, as if counting something. Her eyes widened even more, the she turned towards the wall and began writing letters in the dust at a manic pace, as if she was possessed.

"Kate, what is it?" Stevie asked, observing as her partner began drawing lines and circles around the letters. "You haven't finally snapped, have you?"

Kate ceased her drawing and stared up at the wall in disbelief. "No way. . . ," she whispered, shaking her head in shock. "This is it?!" she said, her voice growing louder before growling in frustration, "It's been staring us in the face the whole time! It's an anagram!"

"Ana-what?" Mattie repeated, as she looked over to squint at the wall, "What's going on?"

"An anagram! Look!" Kate explained, turning back to the wall, "If I switch around the letters in Delfredi, they spell out-!"

A slow clap echoed up the hall, causing the agents to freeze in place. "I was wondering if you ever were going to figure it out," a masculine voice drawled. The women looked towards the voice, only to discover that the hall ended in a domed, high-ceilinged room with a staircase at the opposite end. Jill was reminded too much of the foyer in the Arklay Mansion, and deduced that it was another one of Delfredi's tricks to make her revisit her worst memories. But what chilled her most was the figure at the top of the stairs.

Mattie's eyes widened. "Chris!" She started running towards the voice, only for Stevie and Kate to block her path.

"Don't go near him Mattie," Jill ordered, "he's the one who caused all this."

Mattie stared at her mentor in pure confusion. "But . . . It's Chris. He's on our side!" she objected.

Chris chuckled darkly, and the half-blind cadet blinked up at him, stunned. "The truth hurts, doesn't it?" he said, "Too bad some people are still too stupid to believe sugar-coated lies."

"What . . . .?" Mattie whispered, staring up in disbelief.

"Chris, I'm gonna say this once," Jill warned, glaring up at the madman with her gun at the ready, "Whatever has got you thinking like this, you've got to snap out of it!"

"Or can we even call you that, "Delfredi"?" Kate added, her soft voice fully laced with venom.

"My name is not Chris!" Delfredi growled, the noise echoing around the recreated room.

"Then go back to being 'Chris'!" Jill barked back, "We can't let you hurt anyone else! Enough damage has been done already!"

"Shut up!" Delfredi roared. "I'm getting a headache from listening to you. . . I thought making you find the truth would enlighten you, but it seems that confronting your fears hasn't helped either!" He pulled a syringe full of yellow liquid from one of his pockets and held it up to the light, a maniacal glint in his eyes. "But I have other ways . . ."

Stevie and Kate gripped their handguns, fingers inching towards the triggers. Jill paused, searching for his motive. "You wouldn't dare."

"This virus will help change everything," Delfredi explained, "All of you have witnessed horrors no civilian has seen and lived to tell the tale. But the rest of the world doesn't care about what happens! I assume you all know what happened to me in Edonia."

"Edonia . . ." Mattie whispered, recalling that fateful day in her mind's eye.

"That battle changed me!" Delfredi continued. "I lost so many men that day . . . only my partner and I survived. I'll admit, I lost my mind. But all of that will quickly change!"

"Do you really think fabricating more zombies will change anything?" Jill inquired. She knew Delfredi was dangerous; the longer she could keep him talking, the more she would find out about him and keep him from doing something rash. But Jill could only stall for so long.

Delfredi gave a short laugh. "Who said I was bringing them back?" he replied, grinning down at the small group. "There are quicker, more effective ways to bring about change. If you saw what happened, you would know what I've been going through. The men that were lost that day . . . They all screamed as they were dying. And now . . . You will do the same."

Mattie stared at the syringe, her eyes fixed on the yellow liquid swirling around inside. "Mattie? What are you thinking?" Kate whispered, noticing the odd behavior.

"Don't listen to anything he says," Stevie warned, still pointing her gun at Delfredi, "He's crazy."

Mattie shook her head, hazel eyes still wide in shock. "Chris isn't evil. He saved me. . . ." She looked back up at Delfredi with wide eyes. "Right Chris?"

Yellow eyes became dangerously narrowed. "My name. . . is not Chris!" Delfredi roared, raising the needle to hover above his bicep. "I am Delfredi! No more lies. No more games. You think you can stop me? Ha! you're just like everyone else in the world! Following simple-minded ideas, hiding the truth, going about your lives without worry. No. It doesn't work like that. Now that you're trapped here, I'll just show you the truth . . . even if I have to sacrifice myself in the process!"

Delfredi stabbed the needle into his arm. As the sickly yellow fluid sank into his body, his skin began to take on the same color, starting from his arm and spreading over his body. His skin began to bubble, and small areas of tinted skin broke, revealing pulsating, sickly orange pockets of infected flesh. With a harsh grunt, a line of shark-like spikes emerged from his spine, ripping his shirt to ribbons as it fell away. His fingers grew and became pointed, mutating into large claws. "You see . . . No matter what we do . . . We're all monsters!" he roared with a mad grin, staring down the agents through a set of black marks that ran down both sides of his face.

"C-Chris!?" Mattie cried out.

"Oh shit! " Stevie hissed, pushing her blind comrade behind her as they stepped away.

"My thoughts exactly . . . . " Kate breathed in reply, backing up beside them.

Jill steadied her breathing, gripping her pistol tightly. "That virus is causing a full-on mutation similar to Uroboros; it's even affecting his mind," the senior agent thought to herself. Her blue-gray eyes met Delfredi's, only to feel an intense pang of sympathy for her mutated comrade. "Chris . . . What have you become?"


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Hi! I'm finally out for the summer as of early May! I hope I can finish this story before I have to go back to school next year!**

**Thank you reviewers! (AzureSonata23, Toasty2006, SaiyanEpicness, akira-kun.8, and Sara Victoria Cullen) Bet you never saw those plot twists coming! (Although actually, some of you did.) Reviews are awesome!**

**Short chapter, but it's action-packed! I also did some work on a one-shot I started ages ago, so I might post that later.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Resident Evil or its characters. I claim responsibility for most non-canon characters. Delfredi and Veronica were imagined by my friend and co-writer JediSpartan217, who also helped me with this story.**

* * *

Chris stared down at the petrified agents, glaring down as he towered over them, his cat-like eyes fixed on the four women in front of him. The pulse of their accelerated heartbeats pounded in his ears, and he could smell the sweat and adrenaline on them. Despite their terror, they each stood stock still, unwilling to move.

The monster formerly known as Chris growled into the air. Mattie shivered and moved to hide behind her nearest comrade. "Don't move," Stevie whispered to her. "Maybe he responds to movement," she added in an attempt at reassurance.

"Don't move? But he's staring right at us!" the half-blind cadet whispered back.

Jill kept her eyes on her mutated comrade, waiting for the beginning of an attack as Kate's eyes bounced around the room, analyzing the surroundings and searching for places to take cover. "Why isn't he moving?" the senior agent wondered. Any other BOW would have attacked by now. Something was wrong.

Chris growled again, not from the lack of a fight, but at a wall of sound that was slowly building up around him, accompanied by the pounding sensations of a growing migraine. The sounds grew louder and voices became more pronounced until he couldn't tell whether the noise was simply ringing in his ears or some torment devised by the group in front of him.

There were five voices in all, and Chris recognized each one; they were all ghosts that he'd never wanted to haunt him again.

"Kill them! Kill them! kill them!" the voices chanted in unison, the words in time with the migraine pulses in his head.

"You want to be a good boy for us, don't you?" Excella crooned.

"Yeah! Youse have to crush them!" Irving chimed in.

"Go on, Chris. Don't disappoint me," Wesker added.

Chris grabbed his head, struggling not to succumb to the waves of disorientation that had begun to sweep over him. "Stop! Stop talking!" he growled out loud, sounding even more gravelly than before.

"What's going on?!" Stevie called out to Kate and Jill, gun pointed directly forward while holding Mattie back..

"It's probably the Gx-a virus," Kate guessed. "He's been taking pills to suppress the symptoms. Now that he gave himself a full injection, he's most likely being bombarded by the side effects." she explained, backing away slowly. An aggressive opponent was even more dangerous when distressed, and right now Chris fit the bill.

Chris grunted in pain as the voices continued to torment him. "I thought you'd be better than this, Chris. You still haven't changed," an echo of Wesker asserted.

"I-I have changed . . ." Chris rebutted, wrestling control of his own body, if only for a moment.

"Then prove it."

Images of Forrest and Richard in bloodied STARS uniforms swam in and out of his vision."You could have saved us, Chris," they whispered, "But you failed."

"Hah! Whadda loser!" Irving jeered from nowhere.

"Pathetic!" Excella chimed in.

"NO! JUST STOP! PLEASE!" Chris growled, the migraine now beating against his skull.

He could feel Wesker's devious smirk as he tried to calm down. "C'mon Chris, let's finish what you started," his former captain taunted.

Chris fell silent and stared towards the ground, immobile except for steady breathing.

Mattie peered from behind Stevie, anxious for any sort of update in the situation. "Chris . . . . ?" she spoke, her voice quivering in fear.

The monstrous form of Chris looked up. His eyes had gone black where there should have been white, chilling the agents to the core as the golden irises met theirs. "Must . . . Kill!" he growled under his breath, "Want to . . KILL!"

"We're in trouble!" Kate spoke quickly.

"Not good!" Stevie added, pushing Mattie back even more.

"Everyone! Take cover!" Jill ordered as Chris moved to charge. The group of women dived behind a nearby cluster of crates in time for the tyrant to run past and miss them. But the momentum was too great for him to stop. The Tyrant crashed into the wall, impaling the material with his claws, scattering chunks of plaster and concrete about the room. Upon seeing he had missed his targets, Chris tried to remove his arm from the wall. The tyrant strained his arm, trying to pull back with no avail. He was stuck. A tiny breeze of chilled air snaked up his arm and through the hole he had made, meeting his face with little reaction.

"Warning: Main wall has been breached," An automated message sounded from a hidden intercom, "Self-Destruct sequence has been initiated; Estimated time: 30 minutes."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding!" Stevie complained, disregarding the volume of her voice. "Every single time!"

"What's happening?!" Mattie cried out.

Jill glanced around; similar piles of crates were stacked in various places around the room, providing convenient cover. The crates wouldn't last long if Chris were to attack, but it gave them time to plan. "Stevie! Go with Mattie and find her gear! Kate, you're with me! We're gonna need all the help we can get," the senior agent ordered. With a quick nod and some cover fire, Stevie and Mattie made their quick escape up the hallway as Jill and Kate maneuvered around the crates for better cover. "Kate, What can you tell me about the effects of that virus?" Jill requested.

Kate peeked up at the trapped tyrant for three seconds before returning to cover. "That transformation is exactly what happened to the test subjects that got turned into tyrants," she explained, "Same symptoms before too, short of legal insanity!"

Jill nodded. "Right. We need to figure out how to subdue him before Stevie and Mattie get back. Any ideas?"

Kate looked back up at the monster in time to see him free his claws from the wall, sending pieces of concrete every which way. "Not much yet," she admitted, "This is gonna be tricky."

*S & M near control room*

"Where are we going?!" Mattie shouted, squinting her eyes against the air rushing against her face.

"If Chris is out fighting Jill, then he won't be in his control room!" Stevie explained, pulling her blurry-eyed comrade through every corner as she retraced the path they took before finding Jill. "And thanks to Blondie, we know right where that is."

"You think my stuff's there?" Mattie asked.

"No idea. But we're bound to find SOMETHING."

They returned to the antechamber where the men had transformed. Veronica's body sat stiff on the ground in front of the door, her eyes now lifeless and dull.

"Nice to know the bitch hasn't moved," Stevie commented as she stepped gingerly over the body and checked the doorknob. "Yup. Still locked," she verified.

"I'll get it," Mattie spoke as she stepped forward, hairpin in hand.

Stevie stared down at Veronica as Mattie went to work. "Bye bye, Barbie," the taller agent commented under her breath as the door clicked open.

"Got it!" Mattie declared, pushing the door open before them. A small stairwell greeted them, with iron steps leading upwards. A short trek led them to another door; this one was unlocked. Upon entering the room, Mattie's face lit up in delight. "There they are!" she beamed, running to the other side of the room to claim her things.

Stevie began to follow her, but stopped upon seeing a wall of monitors playing back camera feeds from different parts of the facility. One screen showed Jill and Kate circling Chris and shooting at him with little effect. On top of the console was an orange prescription bottle along with several papers and blueprints. The bottle was unlabeled, full of white, capsule shaped pills. Unable to determine their purpose, she turned to the blueprints. The first set of blueprints showed schematics for a device with a small but sinister needle pointed inside of the collar, designed to give regular or remotely controlled injections. "So that's how the guys got infected," Stevie thought, remembering the collars Billy and Carlos wore.

She turned to the papers, picked up the first one she saw, and began reading. If the blue-eyed cadet had to guess, it was another journal entry from Veronica. Judging from the date, it had been written today, if not a few hours earlier.

"The situation is getting worse," the messy scrawl read, "I've been trying to contact my employers for hours now, and they're not responding to anything! I'm beginning to fear that don't expect me to survive from here on. The BSAA pests have proven to be more persistent and clever than Delfredi and I originally thought, but the side effects of the Gx-A treatments have increased dramatically. The pills I made for him are still doing their job and counteracting the worst of the Gx-A in his body, but lately he's been needing higher and higher dosages. Given the slow manufacturing process, I'll run out of pills before I can make a new batch. If he goes out of control I won't be able to stop him. I'll have no choice but to scrap the whole project and destroy the evidence. Including Delfredi! I'd rather do it while he's still in his human form, for mercy's sake. At this rate it might actually come to that… His temper's gotten worse and I fear any more interference will push him over the edge. If the 'Playtime' can't stop the BSAA pests, . . . then I'll have to terminate Delfredi myself before things get any more out of hand. It's the only way..."

"Okay! I got my stuff! What are you waiting for?" Mattie spoke, breaking Stevie's train of thought.

"I think I found his pills! They were being used to counteract the Gx-a virus," Stevie reported. "Seems like Barbie downstairs was scared of Delfredi too, and he caught wise to her plans just in time." The younger cadet turned to relay more information to her friend only to stop abruptly. "Mattie . . . What are you wearing?!" she asked incredulously.

"These are my goggles!" the rescued agent explained, looking at her comrade through a translucent screen attached to the helmet on her head. "Quint made these special for me after a little 'accident' in 'Rookie Pinball'. This is just the 2nd prototype. But nevermind. Grab those pills!" Mattie replied, checking her gun one last time before running back to the door. "We'll need all the help we can get."

*W/ Kate & Jill*

"HQ This is Jill! We need back-up and a medic ASAP!" Jill shouted into her radio behind cover. She peeked over the crates, watching as Kate drew Chris' attention away from her hiding place. "We've got a huge BOW on our hands. We should be in the south side of the building!"

Kate ran to flank him from the side, making sure to stay in Chris' peripheral blind spots. She shot into the back of his knees, forcing him to the ground before she rushed forward, shooting at his arm. One of her shots hit a pulsing orange sac on his shoulder. The sac burst, spewing golden-yellow gas right into the cadet's face.

Chris gave a pained roar, and Jill looked over to see the younger agent stumble back and cover her face. "Kate!" the older agent shouted,, "Are you okay?!"

The bespectacled agent gasped for air, speaking when her lungs were clear. "Those gas pockets produce Gx-a! Don't breathe it in!" she reported.

"Oh, don't hold your breath on my account, darling," an unwelcome voice crooned into her ear.

Kate's spine and shoulders went rigid. "You again?!" she shouted to the air, shooting until the gun clicked empty in her hand, "Perfect time to show up!" She snapped out of her thoughts in time to duck under a swinging yellow arm. "Jill! Any luck?!"

"We've got back-up on the way!" the older agent reported, as she emerged from cover. Chris took notice and turned towards her, allowing her partner a chance to reload.

"Great!" Kate replied, "Where's Stevie and Mattie?!"

"No sign of them yet!" Jill reported, leading the tyrant to the opposite end of the room.

"They really need to hurry . . ." the younger woman muttered to herself as she grabbed a clip from her belt.

"Tsk. You saw how quick your 'friends' were to run away," Excella drawled, "I would't be surprised if they decided to abandon the fight."

"Shut up," Kate growled as she ejected the empty clip.

"I told you they'd betray you. You are nothing to them!"

The younger agent slammed the magazine into her gun. "I told you to SHUT UP!" she roared, wasting no time in running out of cover and firing into Chris' exposed back. Aggression wasn't the approach she and Jill had agreed on, but as long as it didn't get them killed, so be it.

*Outside*

The BSAA helicopter slowed and hovered above the building, lowering itself enough far enough for three men and a petite woman carrying a first aid kit to drop onto the ground.

"Jackass here! Jill, do you copy?" Quint inquired, shouting into the radio to be heard over the aircraft's blades.

"I copy!" Jill replied, "Are you the reinforcements?!"

"Cavalry's here ma'am!," Keith replied through his own radio, watching the fourth member of the team wave off the helicopter. "Grinder reporting for duty! We brought an old friend of yours!"

"We're at the south wall!" Rebecca added, "Where's the entrance?"

As soon as she spoke, a noise like a cannon erupted from the wall. The reinforcements were flung backwards with the spray of rubble, landing harshly on the ground. Once they got their bearings, the soldiers stood up, advancing cautiously towards the opening that had exploded in front of them, peering into the chalky dust. Rebecca, Quint, and Keith decided to hang back while their fourth teammate, another reluctant volunteer, took point. A guttural roar sounded through the wreckage. Before anyone could comment a gigantic shadow materialized in front of the point man, and a set of claws pierced through the back of the soldier's uniform, staining the cloth with blood. The rest of the team froze, pulling their weapons up in retaliation and aiming at the shadow.

With a quick shake the corpse slid off the claws and landed on the ground, its limbs distorted like a rag doll. The figure stepped through the opening, revealing green skin and a mop of scruffy orange hair atop its head. The creature soon joined by two other, taller monstrous shapes, only when they emerged their skin was tinted jaundiced yellow.

Quint grasped blindly for his radio, staring up at the creatures above him in utter disbelief. "Jill? We got more problems out here!"


End file.
